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.
book review

The Role of Russian Espionage in Re-Shaping the West

Arthur Martirosyan August 26, 2020 RM Exclusives
Luke Harding scrupulously presents every bit of data behind the hypothesis that Vladimir Putin controls Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in a book that can be extolled by one political camp and dismissed as a “fake” conspiracy theory by another.
article

Unplugging the Baltic States: Why Russia’s Economic Approach May Be Shifting

Emily Ferris July 01, 2020 RM Exclusives
The probability of Russia resorting to a Crimea-style intervention in the Baltics remains low. As a key energy supplier and major trading partner for the region, Russia has more to gain by using economic levers as opposed to military ones to retain influence.
article

Military Assets in the Arctic: A Russia-West Correlation of Forces

Mathieu Boulegue January 22, 2020 RM Exclusives
Should military tension in the region grow, overall military deployments would largely play in Moscow’s favor in the European Arctic and in Washington’s in the Pacific Arctic.
survey

Expert Survey: Is Nuclear Arms Control Dead or Can New Principles Guide It?

RM Staff July 30, 2019 RM Exclusives
With the INF Treaty's end in sight, what arrangements could emerge from the rubble of U.S.-Russian arms control and what should be their guiding principles? Eight leading international experts weigh in.
article

Russia’s FDI Outlook Grim, with No Chinese Rescue in Sight

Nicholas Trickett July 11, 2019 RM Exclusives
Investment in Russia has plummeted for many reasons, both in and out of Moscow’s control. Meanwhile, the country is drifting toward an increasingly closed economy, with interest groups jostling for pieces of the state-funded pie.
article

Gangster Geopolitics: The Kremlin’s Use of Criminals as Assets Abroad

Mark Galeotti January 17, 2019 RM Exclusives
Since the worsening of relations with the West in 2014, the Kremlin has increasingly adopted a “mobilization state” approach, turning to any available foreign-policy levers. Gangsters are no exception.
article

The Balkans Between Russia and the West

Dimitar Bechev November 22, 2017 RM Exclusives
Russia and the West are not locked in a life-and-death battle over the Balkans. The region is just a vulnerable periphery where Moscow can exert influence as part of a broader contest with the U.S and the EU.
article

Russia Looks Out for Own Interests in Europe’s Elections But Risks Long-Term Blowback

Yuval Weber April 19, 2017 RM Exclusives
Liberals worry about Russian meddling in elections from France to Bulgaria. But Moscow didn’t create Euro-skepticism; it's just good at exploiting existing fissures in Western societies—and has been for a long time. Here's where that may lead.
research paper

Wargaming NATO's Defense of the Baltics

David A. Shlapak and Michael Johnson August 23, 2016 Recommended Reads
The games’ findings are unambiguous: At present NATO cannot successfully defend the territory of its most exposed members; fortunately, changing that will not require Herculean effort.
article

False Alert: Is Russia Beefing Up Forces on NATO’s Border?

Ulrich Kühn July 08, 2016 Recommended Reads
While Russia has done an about-face on military reforms meant to switch from large divisions to smaller, more mobile brigades, Moscow is not (yet) creating additional armed forces.
report

NATO's Northeastern Flank—Emerging Opportunities for Engagement

Christopher S. Chivvis, Raphael S. Cohen, Bryan Frederick, Daniel S. Hamilton, F. Stephen Larrabee and Bonny Lin July 07, 2016 Partner Posts
Renewed tensions between Russia and the West have important implications for U.S. Air Force strategy, posture and regional engagement in Europe, requiring a new assessment of opportunities for Air Force partnerships in the region.