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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Russia’s Economy Once Again Defies the Doomsayers

The Economist March 10, 2024 Recommended Reads
As an election nears, Vladimir Putin now looks to have inflation under control
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The Origins and Efficacy of the Price Cap on Russian Oil

Benjamin H. Harris September 14, 2023 RM Exclusives
The price cap on Russian oil is achieving its goals of lowering Russian revenue while preserving global supply.
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The moment when Putin turned away from the West

David Ignatius March 09, 2023 Recommended Reads
Bush had maintained a surprisingly close relationship with the Russian leader, centered on a counterterrorism alliance. The United States was battling al-Qaeda at the time; Russia was fighting Chechen separatists. But Putin came to believe that America was an unreliable, hypocritical partner — and that belief would curdle into the open feud that has deepened, year by year.
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Domestic Politics Encourage Continued War of Attrition in Ukraine in 2023

Thomas Graham February 22, 2023 RM Exclusives
The main question now: How far will the escalation go?
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No One Would Win a Long War in Ukraine

Vladislav Zubok December 21, 2022 Recommended Reads
The West must formulate a major policy vision that obviates the desire of Ukraine and its staunchest supporters to have Russia smashed and neutralized.
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Why Is Anti-Americanism in Russia Less Widespread Now Than in 2014?

Denis Volkov October 05, 2022 RM Exclusives
Three factors may help explain: Negative attitudes toward the U.S. have become background noise; young people are getting more news online; and peak anti-Americanism may still lie ahead.
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The World Putin Wants

Fiona Hill and Angela Stent August 25, 2022 Recommended Reads
Russia’s president ordered his "special military operation" because he believes that it is Russia’s divine right to rule Ukraine, to wipe out the country’s national identity and to integrate its people into a Greater Russia.
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Price Cap on Russian Oil Exports Would be Futile; West Should Opt for Tariff Instead

Daniel P. Ahn July 14, 2022 RM Exclusives
Fundamentally, to depress Russian oil revenue Western leaders have only two sets of policies under their control: to increase Western oil supply and to decrease Western oil demand.
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Fiona Hill: Putin’s Running Out of Time

Foreign Policy July 14, 2022 Recommended Reads
In this interview, the former White House Russia adviser says Putin wants the Ukraine conflict over with.
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Hoping for a Russia Without Putin: Biden Wasn’t the First, or the Last

RM Staff May 26, 2022 RM Exclusives
Would the world be better off with Putin out of power? In this compilation, we have gathered statements by Western and Russian commentators who state or suggest just that, or at least try to explain the thinking of those who hold such a view.
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Would Putin’s Russia Really Nuke Ukraine?

Graham Allison April 22, 2022 Recommended Reads
If a nuclear strike killed 10,000 or 20,000 innocent Ukrainians, how would the United States or NATO respond?
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America Takes Pole Position on Oil and Gas

Daniel Yergin February 14, 2022 Recommended Reads
U.S. exports limit price increases and help check disruptive behavior by the likes of Russia and Iran.