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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The War in Ukraine in a Transitional World Order

Robert Legvold February 23, 2024 RM Exclusives
The war in Ukraine is reshaping an international system released from its moorings and lurching in uncertain directions, which in turn is affecting the course and prospective outcome of the war.
Competing Views on Russia

General David Petraeus on the Russia-Ukraine War

Kate Davidson, Conor Cunningham and RM Staff December 21, 2023 RM Exclusives
Petraeus shared with Harvard students, faculty and staff the insights he has outlined in his most recent book, co-authored with Andrew Roberts, "Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine."
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A World Transformed and the Role of Intelligence

William J Burns July 01, 2023 Recommended Reads
'We are ... at an inflection point. The post-Cold War era is definitely over. Our task is to shape what comes next,' says CIA Director William Burns, as he delivers the 59th Ditchley Annual Lecture.
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To Truly Pressure Russia’s Oligarchs, the West Should Target Their Wealth Managers

Ho-Chun Herbert Chang June 20, 2023 RM Exclusives
Russia's superrich rely on a small number of wealth managers, many of whom reside in Europe, making them relatively easy targets for Western policymakers hoping to ramp up sanctions amid Moscow's ongoing war with Ukraine.
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To Blunt the Threat of Harm From AI, First Prevent Cold War II

Robert Wright June 08, 2023 Recommended Reads
 What's needed is a world more like that of a couple of decades ago, before America's relations with China (and Russia) started to go downhill, the author argues.
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How to End the War in Ukraine

Rajan Menon April 26, 2023 Recommended Reads
On Stopping the Fighting and Building the Peace
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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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Nuclear Weapons in Belarus: History Repeats Itself

William Alberque March 31, 2023 RM Exclusives
Russia’s increasingly violent nuclear rhetoric and basing of nuclear weapons in Belarus are to be condemned. However, these developments do not alter the balance of power in Europe, nor do they significantly alter the risk of nuclear conflict.
Clues from Russian Views

Devoted to Putin: Volodin's Views on Russia, the West and the Rest

RM Staff January 27, 2023 RM Exclusives
Despite his mastery of reductionist flattery and "unlimited devotion" to Putin, the speaker of the State Duma likely isn't a member of the Russian president's inner-most circle. Still, he may have a shot at the Kremlin when Putin steps down.
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No, Weakening Russia Is Not “Costing Peanuts” for the U.S.

Trita Parsi January 20, 2023 Recommended Reads
As support slips for military funding to Ukraine, some analysts argue that America is getting a great deal for its money. But there are a lot of strategic costs that don’t show up on the balance sheet.
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8 Lessons for Taiwan From Russia’s War in Ukraine

Tzu-yun Su January 18, 2023 RM Exclusives
While the fighting in Ukraine is on land, and thus very different from the maritime battlefield that would surround Taiwan, there are still many things this island nation can learn from Ukraine's defensive operations.
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Keeping Putin From Going Nuclear: Can Xi and Modi Help?

Simon Saradzhyan September 29, 2022 RM Exclusives
The collective West is right to take Putin’s nuclear threats seriously, but efforts to dissuade him require the pro-active involvement of China and India.