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.
interview

Sen. Sam Nunn: 'We Have a Choice Between Cooperation or Catastrophe'

Mariana Budjeryn June 20, 2017 RM Exclusives
The veteran U.S. lawmaker, who played a key role in dismantling and safeguarding the nuclear weapons of a disintegrating Soviet Union, reflects on the program’s motives, impact and shortcomings.
podcast

From the Tsardom of Muscovy to Nuclear Cooperation: Podcasts on Russia

Monterey Summer Symposium on Russia June 19, 2017 Partner Posts
Throughout the summer, the Monterey Summer Symposium on Russia will host expert lectures and seminars on a variety of topics ranging from history and art to diplomacy and nonproliferation. As the symposium progresses, these lectures will be made available as podcasts.
article

Taking the Edge off U.S.-Russia Strategic Relations

Steven Pifer June 16, 2017 RM Exclusives
Now that the U.S. and Russia have agreed to resume talks on strategic stability, they should begin them as soon as possible in order to prevent a conflict with dire consequences.
explainer

25 Years of Nuclear Security Cooperation by the US, Russia and Other Newly Independent States: A Timeline

Mariana Budjeryn, Simon Saradzhyan and William Tobey June 16, 2017 RM Exclusives
At a time when the U.S. and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union still saw each other as mortal enemies, they found the courage, creativity and capacity for trust to work together in the name of preventing nuclear catastrophe.
Competing Views on Russia

Brzezinski on Russia: Insights and Recommendations

RM Staff June 01, 2017 RM Exclusives
The former presidential advisor on national security retained a deep skepticism about Russia’s aims and intentions, even when calling on the U.S. to integrate it into the West.
article

A Strategy for (Modestly Increasing the Chance of) Saving the INF Treaty

James M. Acton May 11, 2017 RM Exclusives
While it’s highly unlikely that Russia will return to compliance with the INF Treaty, the U.S. should make every effort to save the agreement by creating three realities that Moscow can’t ignore.
article

Ukraine Between Russia and the West Buffer or Flashpoint?

Thomas Graham, Rajan Menon and Jack Snyder April 24, 2017 Partner Posts
Ukraine's domestic turmoil and relations with Russia, the U.S., and Europe may not make it an ideal candidate for a buffer state, but that outcome could be better than the other alternatives.
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.
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.
explainer

For Russia and America, Election Interference Is Nothing New: 25 Stories

Arjun Kapur and Simon Saradzhyan March 22, 2017 RM Exclusives
As headlines scream about Russia’s “unprecedented” interference in U.S. politics, it’s helpful to get some historical perspective on how often countries try to tinker with each other’s elections.
article

The Russian Defense Budget and You

Michael Kofman March 17, 2017 Recommended Reads
Russia's 2017 defense budget is smaller than last year's, but the reduction is not quite as drastic as some interpretations indicate.
article

Applying Lessons of US-Russian Space Cooperation to Revive Nuclear Security Partnership Between Moscow and Washington

Simon Saradzhyan and William Tobey March 14, 2017 Recommended Reads
The U.S. and Russia should infer lessons from their joint exploration of space to revive their nuclear security cooperation.