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.
policy brief

Russia’s New Conventional Capability: Implications for Eurasia and Beyond

Nikolai Sokov May 01, 2017 Recommended Reads
Russia’s new conventional-strike capability is significant for the West, whether or not the West wants to acknowledge it.
report

Lessons from Russia's Operations in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine

Michael Kofman, Katya Migacheva, Brian Nichiporuk, Andrew Radin, Olesya Tkacheva and Jenny Oberholtzer May 01, 2017 Recommended Reads
Russia's military operation in 2014 to annex Crimea was a decisive and competent use of military force, while its campaign in the eastern part of Ukraine was ineffectually implemented but achieved its aim: political fragmentation of the country.
article

Russia Looks Out for Own Interests in Europe’s Elections But Risks Long-Term Blowback

Yuval Weber April 19, 2017 RM Exclusives
Liberals worry about Russian meddling in elections from France to Bulgaria. But Moscow didn’t create Euro-skepticism; it's just good at exploiting existing fissures in Western societies—and has been for a long time. Here's where that may lead.
article

The Ukraine Crisis: Why Everyone Loses

Samuel Charap and Timothy J. Colton April 18, 2017 Partner Posts
As the conflict in eastern Ukraine approaches its fourth year, with nearly 10,000 dead so far, the authors consider how we’ve gotten to where we are and call for a radically different approach to resolution.
article

5 Conservative Principles for Dealing With Russia

William Tobey April 12, 2017 Partner Posts
Reestablishing a rough consensus on principles to guide American relations with Russia is a high foreign policy priority.
article

Snapshot Analysis: Was Chemical Attack in Syria Meant to Drive Wedge Between US and Russia?

Simon Saradzhyan April 07, 2017 RM Exclusives
The U.S. strikes against Syria have sharply escalated tensions between Moscow and Washington, but the two can still mend fences and work toward peace in Syria.
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

Valdai Paper #64: Into the Unknown: US-Russian Relations Unhinged

Robert Legvold April 07, 2017 Partner Posts
If the larger picture defies prediction, the immediate future is scarcely more transparent.
article

Syria and the Call of the Quagmire

Paul R. Pillar April 06, 2017 Recommended Reads
America's immersion into the Syrian civil war carries with it the risk of widespread warfare.
event summary

Panel Discussion: US Politics & Russia

Institute of Politics April 05, 2017 Partner Posts
Panelists speculate on the future of the U.S.-Russian relationship at this event co-hosted by Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
article

How the Sanctions Are Helping Putin

Andrey Movchan March 28, 2017 Recommended Reads
Tougher sanctions could have brought Russia down in months. Instead, Putin has gained leverage in domestic politics and Russian oligarchs have founded new monopolies.
article

Dangerous Expectations

Paul Saunders March 17, 2017 RM Exclusives
Could new and lower Russian expectations for U.S.-Russia relations limit U.S. leverage?
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