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

The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine War

John J. Mearsheimer June 23, 2022 Recommended Reads
The United States has pushed forward policies toward Ukraine that Putin and other Russian leaders see as an existential threat, a point they have made repeatedly for many years.
debate

West’s Quandaries on Russia in Ukraine: Ends vs. Means, Rollback vs. Containment

Nikolas K. Gvosdev June 09, 2022 RM Exclusives
Kissinger's and Soros's very different perspectives and policy recommendations flow from fundamentally different assumptions about the nature of the international system and whether "means" or "ends" should have primacy in the formulation of policy.
debate

On West’s Response to Russia in Ukraine: Confrontation Has Risks, but So Does Appeasement

Melinda Haring June 09, 2022 RM Exclusives
We have a dangerous European war right now, but if Putin’s ambitions aren’t checked, we are likely to end up in a much worse situation that could easily bring about a third world war.
report

Measuring National Power: Is Vladimir Putin’s Russia in Decline?

Simon Saradzhyan and Nabi Abdullaev May 04, 2018 RM Exclusives
Russia’s standing in the world—both real and perceived—has a profound impact on U.S. security and policies, as well as on Moscow's actions. This report offers a unique quantitative stocktaking of Russia’s national power.