Analysis

This listing contains all the analytical materials posted on the Russia Matters website. These include: RM Exclusives, commissioned by Russia Matters exclusively for this website; Recommended Reads, deemed particularly noteworthy by our editorial team; Partner Posts, originally published by our partners elsewhere; and Future Policy Leaders, pieces by promising young scholars and policy thinkers. Content can be filtered by genre and subject-specific criteria and is updated often. Gradually we will be adding older Recommended Reads and Partner Posts dating back as far as 2011.
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Biden's Ukraine Dilemma: Balancing Democratic Ideals, Russia Tensions and US-China Rivalry

Paul Saunders April 26, 2023 RM Exclusives
Of the Ukraine policy options available to Biden, staying the course might seem especially attractive, but if the Ukrainian offensive fails, it could weaken the negotiating leverage that the Biden administration is working to amass in Kyiv, while also undercutting political support for Zelensky in Ukraine and in the West.
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Ukraine War Compels Bundeswehr to Refocus and Rebuild, but at Too Slow a Pace

Erich Vad April 20, 2023 RM Exclusives
In the past, Germany believed it could afford to neglect national and NATO defense because the threat situation was quite different. In retrospect, this was politically short-sighted.
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Russia and Ukraine Have Incentives to Negotiate. The U.S. Has Other Plans

Christopher Caldwell February 07, 2023 Recommended Reads
Russia has more than three times Ukraine’s population, an intact economy and superior military technology. At the same time, Russia has its own problems; until recently, a shortage of soldiers and the vulnerability of its arms depots to missile strikes have slowed its westward progress.
Clues from Russian Views

Devoted to Putin: Volodin's Views on Russia, the West and the Rest

RM Staff January 27, 2023 RM Exclusives
Despite his mastery of reductionist flattery and "unlimited devotion" to Putin, the speaker of the State Duma likely isn't a member of the Russian president's inner-most circle. Still, he may have a shot at the Kremlin when Putin steps down.
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No, Weakening Russia Is Not “Costing Peanuts” for the U.S.

Trita Parsi January 20, 2023 Recommended Reads
As support slips for military funding to Ukraine, some analysts argue that America is getting a great deal for its money. But there are a lot of strategic costs that don’t show up on the balance sheet.
Clues from Russian Views

Dmitry Medvedev in His Own Words: From Modernizing Liberal to Hateful Hawk

RM Staff January 04, 2023 RM Exclusives
Analysts believe the public metamorphosis is meant to keep the ex-president/ex-prime minister politically relevant and close to Russia's pro-war ruling elite.
Clues from Russian Views

The World According to Patrushev

Simon Saradzhyan and Angelina Flood October 07, 2022 RM Exclusives
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, often comes up when discussion turns to possible Putin successors. Check out our compilation for some of his views on issues that impact important U.S. interests.
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Ukraine’s Digital Fight Goes Global: The Risks of a Self-Directed, Volunteer Army of Hackers

Elisabeth Braw May 02, 2022 Recommended Reads
"There are serious risks involved in waging an informal cyber battle against Russia, particularly since cyber warfare may be one of the few remaining tools in the Kremlin’s playbook," the author writes.
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Biden’s Dangerous New Ukraine Endgame: No Endgame

Michael Hirsh April 28, 2022 Recommended Reads
"Putin has year by year reintroduced nuclear weapons into his conventional war calculations. … Yet Putin has never come this close to threatening to use them, nor has he made clear if or how he might do so," the author writes.
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How Silent Assent Made Bucha Possible

Andrei Kolesnikov April 07, 2022 Recommended Reads
Those who approve or stay silent bear, at the very least, collective responsibility for what is happening in their own country and what the state is doing.
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How to Make Peace With Putin

Thomas Graham and Rajan Menon March 21, 2022 Recommended Reads
The West must move quickly to end the war in Ukraine.
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'A Serious Failure': Scale of Russia’s Military Blunders Becomes Clear

Sam Jones, John Paul Rathbone and Demetri Sevastopulo March 12, 2022 Recommended Reads
First phase of offensive held back by intelligence weaknesses and poor planning and logistics.
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