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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Macron’s European Security Order: Stronger European Defense, Less Reliance on US and New Post-War Dynamic With Russia

Rym Momtaz February 02, 2024 RM Exclusives
Since February 2023, Macron has consistently stated that Russia cannot and must not win its war against Ukraine—but at the same time, he has repeatedly talked about the need to build a security architecture “with” Russia once the war is over.
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Gender Norms Keep Russian, Ukrainian Servicewomen From Combat

Jessica Trisko Darden November 22, 2023 RM Exclusives
Despite a century of women’s involvement in the region’s wars, Russian and Ukrainian women's involvement as combatants today echoes a global pattern where women are relegated to roles that distance them from frontline combat. 
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Expert Survey: Should US Offer Ukraine Security Guarantees?

RM Staff August 04, 2023 RM Exclusives
While some believe the answer is an unequivocal yes, others argue there are no easy answers and call for caution. Check out our survey of some of America’s most prominent experts on post-Soviet Eurasia for more.
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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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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.
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Ukraine’s Accession to the EU: Relations With Member States and Implications for the Balance of Power

Kai-Olaf Lang July 22, 2022 Recommended Reads
On the one hand, Ukraine aims to join the EU because it wants “more Europe.” On the other hand, a state fighting for its independence in war will be reluctant to allow sovereignty to be “pooled.”
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Challenges to Internal Security and the Rule of Law From an EU Perspective

Raphael Bossong July 22, 2022 Recommended Reads
The rapidly growing availability of weapons in Ukraine, the country's widespread corruption and weak rule of law and challenges to the eventual securing of ceasefire lines all pose a significant risk to the EU’s internal security.
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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.
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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.
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Ukraine’s Implausible Theories of Victory: The Fantasy of Russian Defeat and the Case for Diplomacy

Barry R. Posen July 08, 2022 Recommended Reads
At present, the most plausible result after months or years of fighting is a stalemate close to the current battle lines.
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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.
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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.