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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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.
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Germany’s New-Old Approach to Russia: Strong in Rhetoric But Weak in Substance?

Liana Fix November 18, 2021 RM Exclusives
To understand Germany’s future approach to Russia, look beyond it. Security and energy policy, more than foreign policy alone, will play an important role, and the repercussions of decisions in these areas will affect Russia’s leverage toward Europe.
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Biden's Moscow Outreach Exposes Europe's Disarray

Philip Stephens July 07, 2021 RM Exclusives
In the aftermath of the Geneva summit, the Biden administration is likely to be at once dismayed by the European Union's public display of disunity and privately relieved that its own efforts to set the terms of a different relationship with Putin will not be complicated by a parallel Franco-German initiative.
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Want a Green Future? Let Nord Stream Go.

Stephen G. Gross May 06, 2021 Recommended Reads
U.S. sanctions against Germany over Nord Stream 2 would undermine diplomatic climate change efforts.
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Joe Biden’s Risky Russia Sanctions Game

Nikolas K. Gvosdev March 03, 2021 Recommended Reads
How will U.S. action towards Moscow affect two more critical relationships for Washington: the ones with Berlin and Beijing?
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A Look at the Military Lessons of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Michael Kofman December 14, 2020 RM Exclusives
The implications of the conflict continue to reverberate well outside the region given its potential significance for regional and great powers alike, while further spurring debates on the character of modern warfare.
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The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Two Weeks In

Michael Kofman and Leonid Nersisyan October 14, 2020 Recommended Reads
Azerbaijan and Armenia have now spent more than two weeks at war. Initial Azerbaijani tactical successes have failed to lead to an operational breakthrough and the conflict may settle into a war of attrition.
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Time For Russia and Other Great Powers to Move From Words to Actions to End Karabakh War

Simon Saradzhyan October 08, 2020 Partner Posts
Russia remains the only country capable of single-handedly compelling Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the conflict in Karabakh. Yet, it has so far been unwilling to back its calls with the deeds needed to compel both sides to lay down arms, even if only temporarily.
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When the Chips Are Down: Russia’s Stance in the Current Azeri–Armenian Confrontation

Neil Melvin October 06, 2020 Recommended Reads
Kremlin faces a strategic juncture in its post-Soviet policy for the South Caucasus, the traditional balancing act is no longer capable of ensuring Russia's leading regional role as the South Caucasus become another zone for Turkey–Russia proxy competition.
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Armenia-Azerbaijan War: Military Dimensions of the Conflict

Michael Kofman October 02, 2020 RM Exclusives
This large scale conventional war between the two countries is likely to upend the status quo of territorial control in the region.
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US Should Keep an Eye on Rising Chinese Investment in the South Caucasus

Daniel Shapiro October 01, 2020 RM Exclusives
The recent flare-up of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan has turned global attention to the South Caucasus, but increased Chinese presence in this strategically sensitive region means U.S. policymakers shouldn't look away when tensions ease.
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Where US Sees Democracy Promotion, Russia Sees Regime Change

Benjamin Denison July 29, 2020 RM Exclusives
If U.S. officials were to critically assess the track record of American regime change, they might see that Russian statements against U.S. democracy promotion reflect genuine anxiety about regime security.