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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Is Putin Too Old to Rule Russia?

RM Associates and Staff June 12, 2024 RM Exclusives
Our research shows that in terms of age, Putin is not an outlier among Russia’s rulers of the past century nor among the present rulers of some of Russia’s peers, allies and adversaries.
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The War in Ukraine in a Transitional World Order

Robert Legvold February 23, 2024 RM Exclusives
The war in Ukraine is reshaping an international system released from its moorings and lurching in uncertain directions, which in turn is affecting the course and prospective outcome of the war.
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Russia, the West and the ‘World Majority’

Angela Stent January 25, 2024 RM Exclusives
As Russia begins its one-year presidency of the BRICS this month, great power competition in the Global South, or what Russia now calls the “World Majority,” will intensify.
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PONARS Eurasia: Russian Military Keynesianism: Who Benefits from the War in Ukraine?

Volodymyr Ishchenko, Ilya Matveev and Oleg Zhuravlev December 05, 2023 Recommended Reads
How has the transformation of the Russian economy and society in response to the challenges posed by the invasion of Ukraine affected popular support for the war?
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Putin’s Favorite “Project Managers” Could Become a Risk to the Regime

Andrey Pertsev December 05, 2023 Recommended Reads
Enterprising and competent officials know full well they can survive without Putin. Whether the regime can survive without them, though, is another matter.
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What Global Mutiny Trends Can Teach Us About Russia After Prigozhin’s Uprising

Maggie Dwyer August 11, 2023 RM Exclusives
Given what we know about mutinies around the globe, we should not assume Prigozhin’s rebellion will be a one-off, an expert argues.
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Clues from Russian Views: Has the NATO Summit Become Music to Moscow’s Ears?

Mikael Pir-Budagyan and RM Staff July 14, 2023 RM Exclusives
A collection of Russian reactions to the Vilnius gathering
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Mutiny in Russia: What Happened, What’s Next and What To Be Thankful For

Simon Saradzhyan June 29, 2023 RM Exclusives
Deus ex machina or not, we should be thankful that this struggle for power within the Russian ruling elite did not acquire a nuclear dimension.
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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.
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Rattling the Nuclear Saber: What Russia’s Nuclear Threats Really Mean

Lauren Sukin May 04, 2023 Recommended Reads
It is precisely because of, and not in spite of, the fact that Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly held their nuclear arsenals over Western heads that leaders should take these threats seriously.
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Biden's Ukraine Dilemma: Balancing Democratic Ideals, Russia Tensions and US-China Rivalry

Paul Saunders April 26, 2023 RM Exclusives
Of the Ukraine policy options available to Biden, staying the course might seem especially attractive, but if the Ukrainian offensive fails, it could weaken the negotiating leverage that the Biden administration is working to amass in Kyiv, while also undercutting political support for Zelensky in Ukraine and in the West.
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Ukraine War Compels Bundeswehr to Refocus and Rebuild, but at Too Slow a Pace

Erich Vad April 20, 2023 RM Exclusives
In the past, Germany believed it could afford to neglect national and NATO defense because the threat situation was quite different. In retrospect, this was politically short-sighted.