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

Russia, the West and the ‘World Majority’

Angela Stent January 25, 2024 RM Exclusives
As Russia begins its one-year presidency of the BRICS this month, great power competition in the Global South, or what Russia now calls the “World Majority,” will intensify.
article

Keeping Putin From Going Nuclear: Can Xi and Modi Help?

Simon Saradzhyan September 29, 2022 RM Exclusives
The collective West is right to take Putin’s nuclear threats seriously, but efforts to dissuade him require the pro-active involvement of China and India.
article

On Ukraine War, India Balances on Fine Line Between Russia and West

Rakesh Sharma August 26, 2022 RM Exclusives
The war in Ukraine has confronted India with difficult strategic choices as it strives to balance relationships with Washington and with Moscow while competing with Beijing.
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Russia and Iran Get Closer While Still Competing, Amid Balancing Act With Turkey

Nicole Grajewski August 03, 2022 RM Exclusives
At July’s summit, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has given Tehran more leverage in relations with Moscow.
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Deeper US Engagement with Uzbekistan Stymied by Changing US Priorities, Russian Wariness

Scott Radnitz October 26, 2021 RM Exclusives
After a long hiatus, Uzbekistan is back on America's radar, but any U.S. reengagement with Uzbekistan is likely to be short-lived and superficial.
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Russia’s Competing Policy Interests in Syria and the Middle East

Mark N. Katz May 25, 2021 RM Exclusives
Amid its ongoing military intervention in Syria, Russia’s role is complicated by conflicting policy goals pursued other actors in the country.
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Armenia-Azerbaijan War: Military Dimensions of the Conflict

Michael Kofman October 02, 2020 RM Exclusives
This large scale conventional war between the two countries is likely to upend the status quo of territorial control in the region.
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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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Turkey and Russia: A Remarkable Rapprochement

Michael A. Reynolds October 24, 2019 Recommended Reads
Turkey's purchase of the S-400 and the broader turn to Russia cannot be ascribed primarily to Erdogan’s supposed erraticism, still less to his Islamist orientation or any ideology aside from mainstream Turkish nationalism.
research paper

Lessons for Leaders: What Afghanistan Taught Russian and Soviet Strategists

Simon Saradzhyan February 28, 2019 RM Exclusives
Moscow’s military intervention in Afghanistan lasted nearly a decade (1979-1989). It cost the USSR dearly in blood, treasure and power, but imparted lessons as well. Can some of these prove useful to the U.S. today?
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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.
research paper

Jihadists from Ex-Soviet Central Asia: Where Are They? Why Did They Radicalize? What Next?

Edward Lemon, Vera Mironova and William Tobey December 07, 2018 RM Exclusives
Three authors draw on field work and other research to assess the motives, prospects and threats linked to Central Asian jihadists, including the thousands who joined Islamic State and other violent extremists in the Middle East.
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