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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Musings … ‘Russiagate’ Hysteria

Jack Matlock June 02, 2018 Recommended Reads
Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has become increasingly accepted as "fact" by both the media and Congress. This is not the most important aspect of that election.
issue brief

The Durability of Russian Military Power: Moscow’s Prospects for Sustaining Direct Competition

Michael Kofman May 25, 2018 Recommended Reads
Russia's success in restoring its military power gives it greater leverage on the international stage, and Moscow is increasingly using this threat of force to underwrite its foreign policy.
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'Blame Russia' Is Getting Old

Benjamin Haddad March 14, 2018 Recommended Reads
Although voters worldwide have been giving voice to their dissatisfaction with political elites, those elites keep trying to explain away the explosion of populism as a product of Russian interference.
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From Mutually Assured Destruction to Mutually Assured Delusion (and Back?)

Simon Saradzhyan March 12, 2018 Recommended Reads
If U.S. and Russian decision-makers do not just profess but also genuinely believe in the continuing decline and pending collapse of each other’s countries, then chances are they will act more assertively against each other.
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America Ignores Russia at Its Peril

David Ignatius March 06, 2018 Recommended Reads
Putin’s address to the Russian parliament was meant to intimidate Washington, but it was also a plea for attention.
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Our National Obsession With Russia Is Preventing Sane Debate

Eugene Rumer January 22, 2018 Recommended Reads
Saying Russia doesn't matter simply isn't true anymore.
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Contrasting China’s and Russia’s Influence Operations

Peter Mattis January 16, 2018 Recommended Reads
While Moscow's intelligence services play a robust role, Beijing prefers a softer approach.
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Russia Has Been Meddling in Foreign Elections for Decades. Has It Made a Difference?

Lucan Ahmad Way and Adam Casey January 08, 2018 Recommended Reads
Since 1991, there have been two waves of Russian attempts at election interference around the world, but neither wave appears to have met with much success.
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The Russification of US Deterrence Policy

Nikolai Sokov December 25, 2017 Recommended Reads
The United States now shares the same concerns as Russia. This might be good news or bad news, depending on political decisions.
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US Response to Russia Treaty Violation Plays into Moscow's Hands

Steven Pifer November 15, 2017 Recommended Reads
The proposal to develop U.S. intermediate-range missiles would not just further jeopardize the INF Treaty; it is both impracticable and opens the door for Russia to deploy such missiles without fear.
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Entanglement: Chinese and Russian Perspectives on Non-nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Risks

James M. Acton, Alexey Arbatov, Vladimir Dvorkin, Petr Topychkanov, Tong Zhao and Li Bin November 08, 2017 Recommended Reads
A new report offers Russian, Chinese and U.S. assessments of the growing risk of military conflicts going nuclear.
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The US Sanctions Bill Is a Win for Russia

Angela Stent July 28, 2017 Recommended Reads
The EU may rethink its own sanctions regime if the U.S. sanctions bill moves forward. This, of course, would be good news for the Kremlin.
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