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

Still ‘No Limits’? The China-Russia Partnership After Samarkand

Elizabeth Wishnick September 22, 2022 RM Exclusives
Despite their many conflicts of interest in Ukraine and elsewhere, Russia and China continue to be bound together, both by geopolitical factors and by their deep need for regime security.
article

War With Ukraine as Other Means to Speed Up Reversal of Russia’s ‘Civilizational Choice’

Simon Saradzhyan August 12, 2022 RM Exclusives
One overlooked aim of the war in Ukraine is Putin's attempt to speed up a clean break from a “declining” West, so that Russia can blossom as a separate civilization in alignment with the “great civilization” of a “rising” China.
article

Putin’s Perilous Imperial Dream

Cristina Florea May 10, 2022 Recommended Reads
Underpinning Putin’s righteous battle for Russians in Ukraine is an organic vision of Russian nationhood defined by blood and cultural and spiritual traits rather than by political contract or choice.
article

Why Hasn’t Russia Unleashed ‘Cybergeddon’ in Its War on Ukraine?

RM Staff May 04, 2022 RM Exclusives
Some experts say expectations of cyber apocalypse have been overblown, while others argue Russia has already done plenty of cyber damage. Check out our compilation for what Russia’s use (and non-use) of cyber means in the war on Ukraine.
article

5 Polls That Contextualize the Russia-Ukraine Crisis

Mary Chesnut February 17, 2022 RM Exclusives
Surveys by the Levada Center help uncover a nuanced range of Russian viewpoints and shed light on complex tensions that have persisted since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
article

Opportunity for Diplomacy: No Russian Attack Before Feb. 20

Graham Allison February 04, 2022 Recommended Reads
Most of the American foreign policy community has still not come to grips with the relationship that has developed between Russia and China in the decade since Xi Jinping became president.
article

Non-Aggressors With Benefits: Russia-China Alignment Won’t Be Game-Changed by Ukraine or Much Else

Paul Saunders February 03, 2022 RM Exclusives
The relationship rests on a mutual commitment to not threatening one another’s important interests, allowing each government to focus on its strategic aims.
article

‘Green Burden’: How Global Climate Policies Could Impact Russia

Danila Bochkarev August 04, 2021 RM Exclusives
European carbon taxes and a broader push for less fossil fuel could cost Russia’s economy billions of dollars, nudging Moscow to adopt new policies.
interview

Getting Somewhere With Russia: A Q&A With Angela Stent

RM Staff May 01, 2019 RM Exclusives
An eminent Russia expert discuses Russia “as is,” competing and cooperating, the end of arms control, sanctions, Ukraine, Venezuela and much more.
article

Russian Sanctions: Why ‘Isolation Is Impossible'

Henry Foy November 12, 2018 Recommended Reads
Countries throughout Asia, the Middle East and even Europe continue to do business with Russia despite U.S. efforts to isolate Moscow.
interview

‘Above All, Avoid Zeal’: EastWest’s Cameron Munter on Russia’s Relations With the West

RM Staff September 07, 2018 RM Exclusives
A veteran U.S. diplomat specializing in conflict resolution weighs in on the potential for U.S.-Russian cooperation, as well as the threats, obstacles and prospects facing both countries.
article

A Chinese Marshall Plan for Central Asia?

Temuri Yakobashvili October 16, 2013 Recommended Reads
Chinese economic and development policy in Central Asia is reminiscent of the U.S. Marshall Plan, possibly edging out Russia as the dominant foreign influence in the region.
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