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.
interview

CIA Director Burns on Ukraine: ‘We’re Running Out of Time to Help Them’

George W. Bush Presidential Center April 25, 2024 Recommended Reads
William Burns sat down with David Kramer at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Forum on Leadership to discuss Russia, the Middle East, U.S. competition with China and the role of emerging technologies in the world of intelligence.
article

Russia’s Nuclear-Capable Missiles: A Question of Escalation Control

William Alberque March 15, 2024 Recommended Reads
Aspects of Moscow’s military strategy in Ukraine, including its deployment of dual-use missile systems, have offered some potential insights into its nuclear-weapons doctrine.
article

A Greener Russia? Moscow’s Agenda at the COP26 Climate Summit

Anastasia Likhacheva November 09, 2021 Recommended Reads
Russia managed to formulate three climate principles ahead of COP26 that its delegation is promoting in Glasgow and, most likely, will continue to long after the summit ends.
article

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.
article

Want a Green Future? Let Nord Stream Go.

Stephen G. Gross May 06, 2021 Recommended Reads
U.S. sanctions against Germany over Nord Stream 2 would undermine diplomatic climate change efforts.
article

How Russia Wins the Climate Crisis

Abrahm Lustgarten December 16, 2020 Recommended Reads
While the consequences of climate change could be catastrophic for much of the world, for Russia, they could be just the opposite.
article

In the Chaos of Syrian Geopolitics, Russia Remains Dominant

Kamal Alam May 15, 2020 Recommended Reads
Recent talk of a rift between Moscow and Damascus may ignore Russia’s historic role in Syria.
article

The Golunov Case Exposes Russia’s ‘Submerged State’

Alexey Yeremenko June 13, 2019 Recommended Reads
The 'submerged-state' is the level of government most often interacted with by investors and is capable of derailing the policies of the ‘outer state.’
article

Russian-Speaking’ Fighters In Syria, Iraq And At Home: Consequences And Context

Cerwyn Moore and Mark Youngman November 20, 2017 Recommended Reads
A key aspect of IS’s strategy has been the mobilization of supporters across Russia and the former Soviet Union. However, Russia’s domestic terrorism threat extends beyond both IS and returnees from Syria and Iraq, with domestic recruits and Turkic and Central Asian networks adding to a complex security picture.
article

Russian Studies Is Thriving, Not Dying

Timothy Frye October 03, 2017 Recommended Reads
“Russian studies is dying” has become a common assertion. However, in the field of political science, this doesn't seem to be the case.
article

Tom Friedman Is Calling for a Partition of Syria: Trump Should Run the Other Way

Stephen M. Walt April 07, 2017 Recommended Reads
Sending U.S. troops into Syria is not a solution. After all, the U.S. does not have the best track record when it comes to intervention in the Middle East.
article

Why Putin Tolerates Corruption

Ivan Krastev May 15, 2016 Recommended Reads
Unlike for Xi Jinping, there is little incentive for Putin to begin an effective anti-corruption campaign, and compelling reasons not to.
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