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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Should U.S. Missile Defenses Be a Part of Arms Control Negotiations With Russia?

Steven Pifer January 26, 2021 Recommended Reads
The Biden administration should consider whether the benefits to United States and allied security of limiting all nuclear weapons, including non-strategic nuclear arms, would justify accepting some constraints on missile defense.
primer

Russia’s Impact on US National Interests: Preventing Nuclear War and Proliferation

Alexandra Bell January 21, 2021 RM Exclusives
The U.S. should think about future engagement with Russia as the continuation of a long and sometimes difficult process that has ably served the security of both countries.
Competing Views on Russia

Jake Sullivan on Russia

Thomas Schaffner, Daniel Shapiro and Aleksandra Srdanovic December 10, 2020 RM Exclusives
What has U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's pick for national security adviser said on Russia? Check out our compilation for some of Sullivan's observations and policy ideas regarding Russia.
Competing Views on Russia

Antony Blinken on Russia

RM Staff November 25, 2020 RM Exclusives
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has selected Blinken to serve as his secretary of state. Blinken, a foreign policy veteran, foresees the new administration's Russia policy as one that seeks to advance strategic stability, while confronting Putin's aggressive actions.
Competing Views on Russia

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Russia

RM Staff November 09, 2020 RM Exclusives
UPDATED. What have the president-elect and vice president-elect said on the U.S. policies they advocate on key Russia-related issues, as well as their views on Russia itself?
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Rebuttal: Ukraine Is Emerging as Critical Node for White-Supremacy Extremists

Mollie Saltskog and Colin P. Clarke September 24, 2020 RM Exclusives
The authors argue that the transnational threat of violent right-wing extremism emanating from the conflict in eastern Ukraine has not waned, even as the number of ultranationalist foreign fighters there has.
podcast

At the Brink: Loose Nukes

Lisa Perry with Ash Carter, William Perry, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall and Sam Nunn July 20, 2020 Partner Posts
Competing Views on Russia

Olga Oliker on Russia: Insights and Recommendations

RM Staff July 16, 2020 RM Exclusives
Russia presents a critical foreign policy challenge to the U.S., "one which will be poorly served by either demonization or conciliation," writes leading Russia expert Olga Oliker. "What is needed is considered, knowledgeable and nuanced policy."
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The State Department’s Compliance Report Plays the Blame Game, Despite Offering Little Evidence

Matt Korda and Hans M. Kristensen June 24, 2020 Recommended Reads
The report’s publication comes at a critical time, as the Trump administration has spent the past few years—and the past three months in particular—dismantling the last vestiges of U.S. commitments to the international arms control regime.
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Decoding Russia’s Official Nuclear Deterrence Paper

Dmitri Trenin June 05, 2020 Recommended Reads
Russia's recently released Nuclear Deterrence Policy Guidelines suggest that the Kremlin may be preparing for a world without arms control.
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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.
explainer

Who ‘Defeated’ ISIS? An Analysis of US and Russian Contributions

Domitilla Sagramoso May 06, 2020 RM Exclusives
There can be little doubt that the U.S. and its allies played a much bigger role in subduing the terror group than Russia. But ISIS has plenty of life in it yet and any alleged victory is fragile.