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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Biden’s Russia Policy Will Be Shaped by His Priorities, Not Just His People

Paul Saunders February 18, 2021 RM Exclusives
In America’s current political climate, it is hardly surprising that Biden’s key subordinates have spoken skeptically about Russia and the prospects for U.S.-Russian relations.
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It’s Better to Deal with China and Russia in Tandem

Thomas Graham and Robert Legvold February 04, 2021 Recommended Reads
Putting China and Russia into policy silos will be counterproductive.
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With Hacking, the United States Needs to Stop Playing the Victim

Paul Kolbe December 23, 2020 Recommended Reads
Instead of acting surprised after a cyberattack, the United States must better defend its digital homeland and learn how to better operate in a state of constant cyberconflict.
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A Biden Administration Poses Few Benefits for Russia

Nikolas K. Gvosdev November 24, 2020 RM Exclusives
Joe Biden will take office not as an idealistic newcomer to foreign affairs, but rather as a veteran with a well-developed sense of priorities and perspectives—including a healthy dose of disillusionment with the Obama era attempt to reset relations with Russia.
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Evolving Global Order Makes a P5 Summit Ineffective

Paul Saunders September 17, 2020 RM Exclusives
Putin’s ambitious agenda for a P5 summit faces several challenges, including stark differences over specific international problems, low mutual trust and international institutions that are increasingly ill-suited to managing global peace and security.
book review

The Role of Russian Espionage in Re-Shaping the West

Arthur Martirosyan August 26, 2020 RM Exclusives
Luke Harding scrupulously presents every bit of data behind the hypothesis that Vladimir Putin controls Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in a book that can be extolled by one political camp and dismissed as a “fake” conspiracy theory by another.
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A Conversation Between Graham Allison and Angela Stent

Graham Allison and Angela Stent August 01, 2020 Recommended Reads
The U.S. leadership is slowly waking up to the reality of a Russia-China entente. This is an unnatural partnership. But U.S. policies have driven China and Russia closer, and Putin and Xi have managed their differences well.
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Russian Moves in Afghanistan Are About Regional Stability, Not Revenge on US

Artemy M. Kalinovsky July 22, 2020 RM Exclusives
U.S. politicians may feel betrayed by Russia’s engagement with the Taliban, but to understand what Russia is up to, they need to stop imagining that Moscow’s every move is somehow intended to undermine the U.S.
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How Improved US-Russian Relations Could Weaken Putin’s Case for Remaining in Kremlin Until 2036

Paul Saunders July 08, 2020 RM Exclusives
A more nuanced understanding of Putin’s possible motives for the amendments to Russia's constitution—and how the U.S. could shape them in its policy toward Russia—could facilitate Russia’s leadership transition rather than hinder it.
book review

The Dark Arts of Disinformation Through a Historical Lens

Arthur Martirosyan May 20, 2020 RM Exclusives
Understanding the fantastic past of disinformation is key to deciphering the present, argues Thomas Rid in his pioneering analysis of modern disinformation warfare from a historical perspective.
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Don’t Bet on Reset: US-Russian Relations in the Wake of the Coronavirus

Nikolas K. Gvosdev April 22, 2020 RM Exclusives
By offering himself as an ally to the Trump administration during the crisis, Putin hopes to achieve a long-elusive breakthrough with the U.S. But actions on both sides make the prospect of a 2020 reset unlikely.
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Video: Spheres of Influence Webinar

Center for the National Interest April 08, 2020 Partner Posts
When policymakers in the United States declared in the aftermath of the Cold War that the age of “spheres of influence” had ended, were they misdiagnosing the issue?
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