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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Russian Troops Near Ukraine’s Border: How Should the West Respond?

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs December 15, 2021 Partner Posts
With Ukrainian forces on high alert as Russia continues to amass troops on the border, Belfer Center experts outline America’s national security interests in the region and identify steps they believe Western forces should take to thwart Putin’s aims.
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Biden is Right that Global Democracy is at Risk. But the Threat isn’t China

Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky December 03, 2021 Recommended Reads
Instead of chasing the goal of democratizing the domestic political orders of other countries, the Biden administration could collaborate with a small number of like-minded democratic countries that have the skill, will, resources and capacity to make progress on pressing global problems.
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Twenty Years After: How Terrorism and the World have Changed Since 9/11

Center for the National Interest September 09, 2021 Partner Posts
Graham T. Allison, Paul Pillar and Jessica Stern discuss how the United States should deal with terrorism in the aftermath of its military withdrawal from Afghanistan and with friends and rivals abroad to secure vital security interests today.
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The Impact of September 11 on US-Russian Relations

Angela Stent September 08, 2021 Recommended Reads
U.S.-Russian cooperation in the initial stages of the Afghan war appeared to be transformative. Today, it is instructive to ask why the anti-terror partnership collapsed and what the Taliban’s victory might mean for future relations.
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Why Russia Is Unlikely to Use Zapad-2021 to Intervene Militarily in European Countries

Simon Saradzhyan August 31, 2021 Partner Posts
As Russia prepares to hold exercises in its western regions again, we hear warnings that Moscow will use the wargames as cover for aggression against another country; however, the conditions necessary for a Russian military intervention are absent.
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Afghanistan Has Never Been Moscow or Washington’s to Win or Lose

Sergey Radchenko August 16, 2021 Recommended Reads
Radchenko: When it comes to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden made the right call, even if the execution was far less impressive than the orderly Soviet pullout some 30 years ago. What is left in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal was never going to be pretty but nor did the Soviets leave a pretty sight. But this hardly changes the basic issue: Getting in was a mistake; getting out was the right thing to do. Because in the end Afghanistan was never Moscow’s, or Washington’s, to win or lose. 
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Afghanistan Is a Wake-Up Call for ‘Major Non-NATO Allies’

Nikolas K. Gvosdev August 16, 2021 Recommended Reads
From Afghanistan to Hungary, there is confusion about what alliance means and what steps the United States is prepared to take on behalf of those it considers allies. These matters need resolution because the United States cannot allow any doubt about what commitments it is prepared to enforce, especially with great power competitors more prepared to test any ambiguity in America’s stance.
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Does the Collective Security Treaty Organization Have a Future?

Kirill Krivosheev July 09, 2021 Partner Posts
The CSTO still has a chance to prove itself—if it can demonstrate effective and coordinated work after the impending withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
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Grand Illusions: The Impact of Misperceptions About Russia on U.S. Policy

Eugene Rumer and Richard Sokolsky July 08, 2021 Partner Posts
Getting Russia right—assessing its capabilities and intentions, the long-term drivers of its policy and threat perceptions, as well as its accomplishments—is essential because misreading them means wasted resources, distorted national priorities and increased risk of confrontation.
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Russia’s National Security Strategy: A Manifesto for a New Era

Dmitri Trenin July 07, 2021 Partner Posts
The central feature of the new strategy is its focus on Russia itself. The Russian leadership has every reason right now to turn homeward to address the glaring weaknesses, imbalances and inequalities of the country’s internal situation.
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What Did the Biden-Putin Summit Do for US-Russian Relations?

The Brookings Institution June 28, 2021 Recommended Reads
In this podcast Angela Stent assesses the basic agreements that came out of the two leaders' first summit, potential areas for future cooperation and where U.S. and Russian priorities will continue to challenge the relationship.
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Can the Reykjavik Meeting Really Improve U.S.-Russia Ties?

Nikolas K. Gvosdev May 20, 2021 Recommended Reads
A temporary breathing space does not portend a major shift in the relationship. The real question is whether Biden and Putin are prepared to bargain.
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