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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NDAA-2022: How US Priorities Regarding Russia Have Shifted

Aleksandra Srdanovic November 05, 2021 RM Exclusives
This comparison of all provisions of the enacted 2021 and proposed 2022 NDAAs that affect Russia, former Soviet republics and Baltic countries highlights how U.S. priorities regarding Russia have shifted in recent years.
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Russia’s Defense Industry and Its Influence on Policy: Stuck in a Redistributive Feedback Loop

Pavel Luzin November 03, 2021 RM Exclusives
In competing for government resources Russia’s defense corporations and the people affiliated with them become both beneficiaries and proponents of Moscow’s ongoing confrontation with the West.
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The Prospects for US-Russia Climate Engagement Under Moscow’s Chairing of the Arctic Council

Katarina Kertysova May 19, 2021 RM Exclusives
Russia will take over the Arctic Council's rotating chairmanship at a time when the organization grapples with multiple challenges and Russia-West relations have hit another historic low.
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Want a Green Future? Let Nord Stream Go.

Stephen G. Gross May 06, 2021 Recommended Reads
U.S. sanctions against Germany over Nord Stream 2 would undermine diplomatic climate change efforts.
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When Allies Go Nuclear: How to Prevent the Next Proliferation Threat

Chuck Hagel, Malcolm Rifkind, Kevin Rudd and Ivo Daalder February 12, 2021 Recommended Reads
The United States faces a new nucler proliferation threat, this time from its own allies.
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Emulation and Military Change in Russia

Emmanuel Dreyfus October 23, 2020 RM Exclusives
Western models have inspired the creation of Russia's Special Operation Command, Military Police and the development of private military companies, as have centuries-old Russian military traditions.
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Russian Moves in Afghanistan Are About Regional Stability, Not Revenge on US

Artemy M. Kalinovsky July 22, 2020 RM Exclusives
U.S. politicians may feel betrayed by Russia’s engagement with the Taliban, but to understand what Russia is up to, they need to stop imagining that Moscow’s every move is somehow intended to undermine the U.S.
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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.
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Experts on Putin: 20 Years in Power

RM Staff August 07, 2019 RM Exclusives
Some of America’s best-informed experts on Russia offer a wealth of insights into President Vladimir Putin’s rule, objectives, historical context and personality.
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How to Enlarge NATO: The Debate Inside the Clinton Administration, 1993–95

Mary Elise Sarotte July 29, 2019 Recommended Reads
Pleas from Central and Eastern European leaders, missteps by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and victory by the pro-expansion Republican Party in the 1994 U.S. congressional election all helped advocates of full-membership enlargement to win.
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Russia-China Bomber Patrol Shows Stronger Alignment Between the Two

Michael Kofman July 26, 2019 RM Exclusives
This week’s unprecedented Russian-Chinese patrol, including Russia’s run-in with South Korean jets, signals both growing bilateral military cooperation and Moscow’s willingness to take on geopolitical risks for the sake of its relationship with Beijing.
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Optimism for Improved US-Russian Relations Is Necessary, But Should Remain Cautious

Paul Saunders July 03, 2019 RM Exclusives
From Russiagate and bilateral trade to Ukraine and strategic stability, few components of a possible U.S.-Russia agenda provide much ground for optimism.