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.
Competing Views on Russia

2020 US Presidential Candidates on Russia: What Have They Said So Far?

Daniel Shapiro, Thomas Schaffner and Angelina Flood March 17, 2020 RM Exclusives
Updated! With the primaries underway, it is worth remembering what the candidates have said about their would-be Russia policies if elected. (Originally published May 23, 2019.)
issue brief

Why Does Congress Not Care About Normalizing Relations With Russia?

Daniel Shapiro and Arthur Martirosyan February 26, 2020 RM Exclusives
There are several major reasons why, whether under the Clinton, Bush, Obama or Trump administrations, Capitol Hill has been reluctant to normalize relations with Russia and even at times hit the brakes on reset attempts.
article

The Problem With Fearmongering About Russian Electoral Interference

Joseph Haker and Andrew Paul February 24, 2020 Recommended Reads
Blaming outsiders distracts attention from the very real domestic problems that make "disinformation" campaigns coherent in the first place.
Competing Views on Russia

John Mearsheimer on Russia: Insights and Recommendations

Thomas Schaffner September 26, 2019 RM Exclusives
When Americans find their domestic politics the target of foreign interference, "they become deeply committed to the principle of self-determination." Not surprisingly, writes leading American international relations scholar John Mearsheimer, "so do the Russians."
article

What Cheese can Tell us About US-Russia Relations

Stephen Kinzer September 19, 2019 Recommended Reads
While traveling across Russia, Kinzer noted that “[t]he quality of Russian life has risen along with the quality of its cheese. Russians have decided to go their own way and not worry too much about us. We should return the favor.”
Competing Views on Russia

George Kennan on Russia: Insights and Recommendations

RM Staff August 21, 2019 RM Exclusives
From the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which will see its 80th anniversary this week, to the beginning of the 21st century, Kennan's views on America's Cold War rival went far beyond the "containment" policy for which he is perhaps best known.
article

How to Enlarge NATO: The Debate Inside the Clinton Administration, 1993–95

Mary Elise Sarotte July 29, 2019 Recommended Reads
Pleas from Central and Eastern European leaders, missteps by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and victory by the pro-expansion Republican Party in the 1994 U.S. congressional election all helped advocates of full-membership enlargement to win.

The Mueller Report and the Silence of the Experts

Timothy Frye July 24, 2019 Recommended Reads
Frye argues that discussions in the media during the run-up to the Mueller Report release lacked the "hard-edged skepticism, demand for evidence, and appreciation of what we can and cannot know" that academics and experts can provide.
article

Optimism for Improved US-Russian Relations Is Necessary, But Should Remain Cautious

Paul Saunders July 03, 2019 RM Exclusives
From Russiagate and bilateral trade to Ukraine and strategic stability, few components of a possible U.S.-Russia agenda provide much ground for optimism.
article

Can Washington and Moscow Agree to Limit Political Interference?

Samuel Charap and Ivan Timofeev June 13, 2019 Recommended Reads
The concept of elaborating norms of non-interference on a mutual basis might be the best way to stabilize U.S.-Russian relations and prevent the damaging episodes of recent years from happening again.
article

American Hustle. What Mueller Found—and Didn’t Find—About Trump and Russia

Stephen Kotkin May 21, 2019
The phantasm of an all-powerful, all-controlling, irredeemably evil Kremlin has diverted too much attention from Americans’ own failings, and their duties to rectify them
interview

Getting Somewhere With Russia: A Q&A With Angela Stent

RM Staff May 01, 2019 RM Exclusives
An eminent Russia expert discuses Russia “as is,” competing and cooperating, the end of arms control, sanctions, Ukraine, Venezuela and much more.
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