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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Alternative History: Would Russia in NATO and EU Be Game Changer in West’s Rivalry With China?

Simon Saradzhyan November 20, 2019 RM Exclusives
Quantitative measurements show that while Russia’s decision to align with the West rather than with China might not have been a game changer, it would have diminished the latter’s might vis-à-vis the West.
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Russia’s FDI Outlook Grim, with No Chinese Rescue in Sight

Nicholas Trickett July 11, 2019 RM Exclusives
Investment in Russia has plummeted for many reasons, both in and out of Moscow’s control. Meanwhile, the country is drifting toward an increasingly closed economy, with interest groups jostling for pieces of the state-funded pie.
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Leveraging Venezuela: How Russia Sees Its Interests in US Backyard

Paul Saunders June 03, 2019 RM Exclusives
Americans should not overestimate either Russia’s interests in Venezuela or its capabilities there. Some see the country as a new Ukraine or Syria. It isn’t.
article

The Open World

Mira Rapp-Hooper and Rebecca Friedman Lissner April 16, 2019 Recommended Reads
While the U.S. has had no major geopolitical rivals in the last 30 years, it now has two: Russia and China.
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Russia and China Are Outwitting America

Vance Serchuk April 10, 2019 Recommended Reads
American politicians frame the current world order as China, Russia, and the United States locked in a 'great-power competition.' However, by restricting their definition of this rivalry to a race for technological prowess, U.S. national security experts increase the possibility of an inadvertent escalation to war.
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5 Years Since Russia’s Intervention in Ukraine: Has Putin’s Gamble Paid Off?

Simon Saradzhyan March 14, 2019 RM Exclusives
The author analyzes the costs and benefits for Russia, finding that the intervention advanced one vital national interest and damaged several others. The costs have been manageable so far, but may eventually become prohibitive.
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Trump-Putin G20 Summit: High Stakes and Strained Dialogue

Matthew Rojansky November 28, 2018 RM Exclusives
As high-level U.S.-Russian contacts are again plagued by deep disagreement, both sides face a list of urgent global security challenges that can be managed only through dialogue.
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Election Gambit: What’s Behind Russia’s Sanctions on Ukrainian Politicians and Businessmen?

Konstantin Skorkin November 12, 2018
Moscow’s behavior is not about getting Ukrainian oligarchs to support a hypothetical Russian candidate in the upcoming Ukrainian elections.
article

Russian Sanctions: Why ‘Isolation Is Impossible'

Henry Foy November 12, 2018 Recommended Reads
Countries throughout Asia, the Middle East and even Europe continue to do business with Russia despite U.S. efforts to isolate Moscow.
explainer

The ‘Who, What, When’ of Russia Sanctions: A Cheat Sheet for Laymen

Alexey Eremenko September 26, 2018 RM Exclusives
This explainer spells out the major sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and EU since 2014: who has been targeted; what behaviors are to be punished or deterred; what activities have been restricted; and for how long.
article

The Rise of Authoritarian Capitalism

Kevin Rudd September 16, 2018 Recommended Reads
As democratic capitalism begins to show signs of sickness, on offer are other modes of governance, including Russian nationalism and China's model of authoritarian capitalism.
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In Helsinki, Trump Takes ‘Do No Harm’ Approach to Russia on 2 Issues: Syria and Energy

Nikolas K. Gvosdev July 17, 2018 RM Exclusives
For now, at least, the U.S. will not help its Middle Eastern and European allies pursue their own engagement with Moscow, but will not interfere with it a great deal either.
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