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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Russian Reactions to Hamas-Israel Conflict: From Offers of Mediation to Schadenfreude

Conor Cunningham, Olga Kiyan, Mikael Pir-Budagyan October 13, 2023
A compilation of the reactions of Russian officials, prominent Putin critics, prominent Putin supporters, pro-war bloggers, and the public at large to Hamas' attacks and Israel's response.
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Macron Will Win Time for Diplomacy With Russia, Not Go Rogue

Emre Peker, Mujtaba Rahman and Alex Brideau February 11, 2022 Recommended Reads
The Elysee’s engagement with the Kremlin was driven by Macron’s immediate desire to win time for diplomacy and avert war, which he managed.
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Monsieur Fixit

Celia Belin February 10, 2022 Recommended Reads
The perils of Macron’s shuttle diplomacy.
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Russia, the United States and the Counterrevolutionaries: A Trilateral Chess Match in the Middle East

Jon Hoffman July 21, 2021 RM Exclusives
Russia's return to the Middle East must be assessed from the perspective of regional actors, namely how they seek to use competition between Moscow and Washington for their own strategic benefit, our latest exclusive argues.
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Does the Collective Security Treaty Organization Have a Future?

Kirill Krivosheev July 09, 2021 Partner Posts
The CSTO still has a chance to prove itself—if it can demonstrate effective and coordinated work after the impending withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
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Biden's Moscow Outreach Exposes Europe's Disarray

Philip Stephens July 07, 2021 RM Exclusives
In the aftermath of the Geneva summit, the Biden administration is likely to be at once dismayed by the European Union's public display of disunity and privately relieved that its own efforts to set the terms of a different relationship with Putin will not be complicated by a parallel Franco-German initiative.
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Macron’s Dialogue With Russia: A French Attempt to Fix the European Security Architecture

Juliette Faure May 12, 2021 RM Exclusives
While Macron has attempted to shape Europe’s strategic autonomy in the management of its eastern neighborhood, lack of support from the EU has impeded the success of this policy, as has Russian behavior throughout 2020.
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US Should Keep an Eye on Rising Chinese Investment in the South Caucasus

Daniel Shapiro October 01, 2020 RM Exclusives
The recent flare-up of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan has turned global attention to the South Caucasus, but increased Chinese presence in this strategically sensitive region means U.S. policymakers shouldn't look away when tensions ease.
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Where US Sees Democracy Promotion, Russia Sees Regime Change

Benjamin Denison July 29, 2020 RM Exclusives
If U.S. officials were to critically assess the track record of American regime change, they might see that Russian statements against U.S. democracy promotion reflect genuine anxiety about regime security.
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Contending With—Not Accepting—Spheres of Influence

Steven Pifer March 05, 2020 RM Exclusives
While Washington does have to deal with Russia's efforts to establish a sphere of influence in its neighborhood, that doesn't mean the U.S. should accept the legitimacy of those efforts.
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Is a 'Reset' Between France and Russia Needed and, If So, Is It Possible?

Tatiana Kastouéva-Jean December 09, 2019 RM Exclusives
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, France’s Russia policy has been frequently summed up as "dialogue and firmness." But in the summer of 2019, France’s Russia policy began leaning more strongly toward dialogue.
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