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.
article

How the Sanctions Are Helping Putin

Andrey Movchan March 28, 2017 Recommended Reads
Tougher sanctions could have brought Russia down in months. Instead, Putin has gained leverage in domestic politics and Russian oligarchs have founded new monopolies.
article

Dangerous Expectations

Paul Saunders March 17, 2017 RM Exclusives
Could new and lower Russian expectations for U.S.-Russia relations limit U.S. leverage?
article

Russia, Trump and a New Détente: Fixing US-Russian Relations

Robert David English March 10, 2017 Recommended Reads
Demonizing Russia only widens the gulf of U.S.-Russian misunderstanding and encourages dangerous misconceptions.
article

Russia and China’s Enduring Alliance

Jacob Stokes February 22, 2017 Recommended Reads
For Russia to turn against China, Moscow may seek anything from lifted sanctions to the abolition of NATO.
article

Why Trump Is Right on Russia

Anatol Lieven February 14, 2017 Recommended Reads
Recent policy failures suggest that cooperation with Russia is unavoidable.
article

Putin Didn't Undermine the Election—We Did

Katrina vanden Heuvel November 29, 2016
Anything Russia may have done to discredit the legitimacy of U.S. democracy and presidential elections pales in comparison to the damage America itself has done.
interview

Putin as Bismarck: Ehud Barak on West’s Russia Blind Spots, the Middle East and More

RM staff November 28, 2016 RM Exclusives
In this far-ranging interview Israel’s former PM and defense minister gives his views on Russian-Western tensions, President Vladimir Putin, Syria, ISIS and much more.
article

What Does Putin Want?

Gerald F. Hyman October 05, 2016 Recommended Reads
The next administration's U.S. policy towards Russia must begin with Putin's two overriding personal objectives: reasserting Russian international power and securing his own domestic power.
article

How to Negotiate With Putin on Anything

James Stavridis September 14, 2016 Recommended Reads
Former NATO supreme allied commander advises the United States to develop new strategies in approaching negotiations with Russia.
article

Why Putin Prefers Trump

Mikhail Zygar July 27, 2016 Recommended Reads
Putin supports leaders whose motivations he understands. With his cynicism and overt power-seeking, Trump fits the bill.
article

A Path Out of the Middle East Collapse

Henry Kissinger October 16, 2015 Recommended Reads
With Russia increasingly filling the power vacuum in the Middle East left by inconstant U.S. policy, the American government must work with all available parties to combat major threats to stability.
article

Vladimir Putin's Dicey Dilemma

Graham Allison November 11, 2014 Recommended Reads
After Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Washington crafted a narrative: Russia is a loser that doesn’t matter anymore. How much of that story is true? And what genuine challenges underlie it?