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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Trump Aside, What's the U.S. Role in NATO?

Barry Posen March 10, 2019 Recommended Reads
Trump's movement away from NATO is easily dismissed as poor foreign policy, given his history of bad ideas. This is not the case, as modern NATO takes more than it gives when it comes to strengthening American national security.
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The INF Treaty Crisis: Filling the Void With European Leadership

Nikolai Sokov March 01, 2019 Recommended Reads
The end of the INF Treaty and wavering on New START show just how much the U.S.-Russian arms control relationship has deteriorated. Europe can step in as mediator to renew effort in nonproliferation, but it must act quickly and develop the political will to move outside of its traditional place on the margins.
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Mixed Messages on Trump’s Missile Defense Review

Matt Korda and Hans M. Kristensen January 17, 2019 Recommended Reads
Despite the document’s assertion that “Missile Defenses are Stabilizing,” the Missile Defense Review promotes a posture that is anything but.
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Why the Arms Race Is Still White Hot Decades After the Cold War Ended—and How to Stop It

Jonathan Hunt November 02, 2018 Recommended Reads
Did the Cold War arms race actually end, or have we merely sat through a 30-year intermission?
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New Sanctions Won’t Hurt Russia

Andrey Movchan September 26, 2018 Recommended Reads
Moscow's foreign currency reserves are at an all-time high, and the falling value of the ruble has actually been a boon for Russia's state budget.
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How to Interfere in a Foreign Election

Stephen Kinzer August 19, 2018 Recommended Reads
Despite Yeltsin's unpopularity, Washington saw him as easy to control, and so, U.S. resources were thrown behind a Russian presidential candidate.
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Dawn of a New Armageddon

Cynthia Lazaroff August 06, 2018 Partner Posts
Perhaps the world was safer during the Cold War. Today’s world has entered a new, unchecked and deadly arms race, and arms control has become hostage to political hostilities between the United States and Russia.
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The Helsinki Summit: A Good Idea Turns Bad

George Beebe July 19, 2018 Recommended Reads
Expectations for the Helsinki summit were low, but the U.S. and Russia still managed to sail their listing bilateral ship directly into the rocks of the Russian cyber-meddling controversy.
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Yes, It Is a New Cold War. What Is To Be Done?

Raymond Smith April 25, 2018 Recommended Reads
Isolating Russia isn't the answer to avoiding the destabilizing effects of Russia turning to alternative alliances with countries like Syria and Iran.
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Competitive Strategies Against Russia Are Seductive, Dangerous and Unnecessary

Joshua Rovner April 16, 2018 Recommended Reads
The U.S. should resist the temptation to spook Russia into self-defeating policies that could just as easily result in unintended confrontation.
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Video: What's Next for US-Russia Relations?

Kennan Institute April 05, 2018 Partner Posts
With the recent expulsion of U.S., European and Russia diplomats, the crisis in U.S.-Russian relations continues to escalate. Is there any sign of a thaw in the relationship in the near future?
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Has a New Cold War Really Begun? Why the Term Shouldn't Apply to Today's Great-Power Tensions

Odd Arne Westad March 27, 2018 Recommended Reads
The international affairs of today are no longer rooted in the absolutes of the Cold War. The world has moved beyond bipolarity and the centrality of ideology.
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