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

Does War in Ukraine Impact Vital US Interests?

Ingrid Burke Friedman, Aleksandra Srdanovic and RM Staff September 08, 2022 RM Exclusives
Despite the West's multiple rounds of sanctions on Moscow and ramped up military, economic and humanitarian aid for Kyiv, Biden has made clear he has no intention of sending American troops into Ukraine, as have leaders of other NATO countries.
article

On The Design of Effective Sanctions: The Case of Bans on Exports to Russia

Ricardo Hausmann, Ulrich Schetter and Muhammed A. Yildirim September 01, 2022 Partner Posts
Well-coordinated sanctions can substantially increase costs to Russia with minimal impact on sanctioning countries, researchers find after examining the impact of export bans on 5,000 products.
article

The World Putin Wants

Fiona Hill and Angela Stent August 25, 2022 Recommended Reads
Russia’s president ordered his "special military operation" because he believes that it is Russia’s divine right to rule Ukraine, to wipe out the country’s national identity and to integrate its people into a Greater Russia.
article

The Case Against a New Arms Race

Rose Gottemoeller August 09, 2022 Recommended Reads
New defense innovations promise not just to transform warfare but also to undermine the logic and utility of nuclear weapons.
article

Price Cap on Russian Oil Exports Would be Futile; West Should Opt for Tariff Instead

Daniel P. Ahn July 14, 2022 RM Exclusives
Fundamentally, to depress Russian oil revenue Western leaders have only two sets of policies under their control: to increase Western oil supply and to decrease Western oil demand.
interview

Fiona Hill: Putin’s Running Out of Time

Foreign Policy July 14, 2022 Recommended Reads
In this interview, the former White House Russia adviser says Putin wants the Ukraine conflict over with.
article

Reviving Arms Control, Post-Ukraine: Why New START Still Matters

Stephen J. Cimbala and Lawrence J. Korb July 13, 2022 Recommended Reads
Will the continuing war in Ukraine and resulting toxic relations between Russia and NATO push nuclear arms control into the dustbin of history?
article

Biden Needs Architects, Not Mechanics, to Fix US Foreign Policy

Stephen M. Walt July 12, 2022 Recommended Reads
As the U.S. midterms near, Washington is plagued by groupthink and a lack of vision that prevents creative solutions to the problems of a new era.
article

Hoping for a Russia Without Putin: Biden Wasn’t the First, or the Last

RM Staff May 26, 2022 RM Exclusives
Would the world be better off with Putin out of power? In this compilation, we have gathered statements by Western and Russian commentators who state or suggest just that, or at least try to explain the thinking of those who hold such a view.
article

Would Putin’s Russia Really Nuke Ukraine?

Graham Allison April 22, 2022 Recommended Reads
If a nuclear strike killed 10,000 or 20,000 innocent Ukrainians, how would the United States or NATO respond?
article

The Ukraine Temptation

Stephen Wertheim April 12, 2022 Recommended Reads
Biden should reject a cold war strategy of dividing the world and keeping one half dependent on the United States.
article

The Toll of Economic War: How Sanctions on Russia Will Upend the Global Order

Nicholas Mulder March 23, 2022 Recommended Reads
The economic offensive against Russia has already exposed one important new reality: The era of costless, risk-free and predictable sanctions is well and truly over, the author writes.
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