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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Survey: What Would a Le Pen Presidency Mean for France’s Policy Toward Russia?

RM Staff April 20, 2022 RM Exclusives
The nationalist firebrand who has recently "put water in her vodka" and considerably toned down her anti-EU rhetoric is well known for cultivating warm ties with Vladimir Putin's Russia.
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Russia Takes a Gamble in Kazakhstan

Dmitri Trenin January 06, 2022 Partner Posts
If Russia succeeds in propping up the regime in Kazakhstan and making it more pro-Russian, then the Central Asian nation could, like Belarus, become a more reliable ally and partner for Russia.
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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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Pompeo’s Visit Lets Post-Soviet States Leverage US Backing Against Russia, China, But Real Support Remains Limited

Nikolas Gvosdev February 07, 2020 RM Exclusives
American policies designed to challenge Russian dominance in Eurasia have either proceeded as a result of autopilot within the bureaucracy or because Congress has imposed them via veto-proof majorities.
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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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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.
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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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Five Nations Bicker Over Whether the Caspian Is Lake or Sea

Rahim Rahimov September 05, 2018 Partner Posts
While the countries' leaders hailed the summit as a historic success, experts noted that the convention failed to resolve any disputes and instead merely formalized the existing status quo.
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Survey: What Next for the Iran Deal and What Will It Mean for US-Russian Relations?

RM Experts May 10, 2018 RM Exclusives
Eight experts on nuclear nonproliferation, security and the Middle East weigh in on the implications of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA.