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.
issue brief

The INF Quandary: Preventing a Nuclear Arms Race in Europe. Perspectives from the US, Russia and Germany

William Tobey, Pavel Zolotarev and Ulrich Kühn January 24, 2019 RM Exclusives
The 1987 INF Treaty now faces an existential threat that could lead to intermediate-range missiles targeting the entire European continent. Three experts weigh in on the consequences and prospects.
multimedia

Video: Experts Discuss the Politics of New START and Strategic Nuclear Modernization

Brookings Institution January 07, 2019
Panelists at a Brookings event discuss the 2010 New START negotiations, the current state of the debate and steps that could be taken to maintain a level of bipartisanship moving forward.
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When Does Vladimir Putin’s Russia Send In Troops?

Simon Saradzhyan August 07, 2018 RM Exclusives
Examining Putin’s three military interventions abroad, the author sees a pattern in which two conditions must be present for Russia to intervene with force: a threat to its vital interests and a reasonable chance of success.
report

Living in (Digital) Denial: Russia’s Approach to Cyber Deterrence

Joss Meakins July 23, 2018 Partner Posts
For cyber deterrence to be effective, Western countries must do more to convince Russia that deterrence in cyberspace works for both sides and can be a force for stability.
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The Durability of Russian Military Power: Moscow’s Prospects for Sustaining Direct Competition

Michael Kofman May 25, 2018 Recommended Reads
Russia's success in restoring its military power gives it greater leverage on the international stage, and Moscow is increasingly using this threat of force to underwrite its foreign policy.
multimedia

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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NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard

Svetlana Savranskaya and Tom Blanton December 12, 2017 Recommended Reads
Newly declassified documents lend credence to claims that Western leaders repeatedly reassured their Soviet counterparts in the early 1990s that NATO would not budge "one inch eastward."
issue brief

After the INF Treaty: An Objective Look at US and Russian Compliance, Plus a New Arms Control Regime

Kevin Ryan December 07, 2017 RM Exclusives
Russia, according to U.S. officials, has violated the INF Treaty. The U.S. is on the verge of violating, if it has not already done so. What’s needed now is a new treaty focusing on warheads instead of delivery systems.
report

Entanglement: Chinese and Russian Perspectives on Non-nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Risks

James M. Acton, Alexey Arbatov, Vladimir Dvorkin, Petr Topychkanov, Tong Zhao and Li Bin November 08, 2017 Recommended Reads
A new report offers Russian, Chinese and U.S. assessments of the growing risk of military conflicts going nuclear.
report

A Roadmap for US-Russia Relations

Edited by Andrey Kortunov and Olga Oliker August 01, 2017 Partner Posts
This report by the CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program and the Russian International Affairs Council looks at the troubled state of the U.S.-Russia relationship and recommends areas of potential cooperation.
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Lessons from Russia's Operations in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine

Michael Kofman, Katya Migacheva, Brian Nichiporuk, Andrew Radin, Olesya Tkacheva and Jenny Oberholtzer May 01, 2017 Recommended Reads
Russia's military operation in 2014 to annex Crimea was a decisive and competent use of military force, while its campaign in the eastern part of Ukraine was ineffectually implemented but achieved its aim: political fragmentation of the country.
white paper

Russia and Cyber Operations: Challenges and Opportunities for the Next U.S. Administration

Ben Buchanan and Michael Sulmeyer December 13, 2016 Partner Posts
Highly potent Russia-linked cyber operations indicate that the U.S. will face an increasingly sophisticated and increasingly aggressive Russian cyber force, one that the incoming U.S. presidential administration should address as a key concern.
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