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.
article

Long-Standing Ties Between Armenia and Russia Are Fraying Fast

Alexander Atasuntsev October 13, 2023
Competing Views on Russia

New Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown on Russia

Conor Cunningham, Mikael Pir-Budagyan and RM Staff October 06, 2023 RM Exclusives
What has the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Russia? See our compilation for his observations and recommendations for countering “the acute threat of Russia.”
article

To Truly Pressure Russia’s Oligarchs, the West Should Target Their Wealth Managers

Ho-Chun Herbert Chang June 20, 2023 RM Exclusives
Russia's superrich rely on a small number of wealth managers, many of whom reside in Europe, making them relatively easy targets for Western policymakers hoping to ramp up sanctions amid Moscow's ongoing war with Ukraine.
research paper

Russia’s Military Posture in the Arctic: Managing Hard Power in a ‘Low Tension’ Environment

Mathieu Boulègue June 28, 2019 Recommended Reads
If Moscow is indeed militarizing the Russian Arctic, the military build-up and the Kremlin’s intentions are, at least for now, defensive in nature.
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

The US, Not Russia Is the New Spoiler in the Arctic

Elizabeth Buchanan May 15, 2019 Recommended Reads
While Pompeo delivered a doomsday sermon on the region becoming an "arena for power and for competition," Lavrov articulated the need for "deeper state-to-state cooperation."
article

Not All Is Quiet On the Arctic Front

Elizabeth Buchanan March 25, 2019 Recommended Reads
2019 presents four clear windows for increased competition in the Arctic.
book review

Russia’s ‘Peripheral Authoritarianism’ as Described by Grigory Yavlinsky

RM Staff March 22, 2019 RM Exclusives
In his new book, one of post-Soviet Russia’s most enduring liberal politicians describes the emergence of his country’s current system of governance and predicts its impending doom.
article

How Not to Compete in the Arctic: The Blurry Lines Between Friend and Foe

Stephanie Pezard February 27, 2019 Recommended Reads
Recent U.S. strategic documents portray Russia as a competitor of the United States and an unambiguous rival. Yet in the Arctic, Russia is also a neighbor with whom trivial matters need to be discussed and de-conflicted before they become nontrivial.
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.
article

How Western aid enables graft addiction in Ukraine

M. Steven Fish and Neil A. Abrams May 05, 2016 Recommended Reads
Can Western aid actually support the cause of reform in Ukraine? Or is Western assistance enabling an entrenched elite to continue stealing and avoid building a functioning state?
article

Russia’s Master Plan to Seize the Arctic

Vladislav Inozemtsev May 02, 2016 Recommended Reads
For now, the Northern Sea Route remains a bluff, like, in general, all of Russia’s plans to develop the Arctic.
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