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

Good News from the Russian Front

Graham Allison December 24, 2021 Recommended Reads
As we celebrate Christmas 2021, we should pause to remember: How many nuclear weapons from the former Soviet arsenal have proliferated? Not the 250 Cheney predicted. Not twenty-five. Indeed, not a single nuclear weapon has been discovered outside the control of Russian authorities.
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Biden-Putin Call Solves Nothing, US Signals ‘Deterrence by Punishment’

Nikolas K. Gvosdev December 09, 2021 RM Exclusives
The call guarantees that the Biden administration is going to have to devote more attention and time to Moscow in 2022.
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Biden is Right that Global Democracy is at Risk. But the Threat isn’t China

Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky December 03, 2021 Recommended Reads
Instead of chasing the goal of democratizing the domestic political orders of other countries, the Biden administration could collaborate with a small number of like-minded democratic countries that have the skill, will, resources and capacity to make progress on pressing global problems.
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Not a Military Base: Why Did China Commit to an Outpost in Tajikistan?

Giulia Sciorati November 02, 2021 Recommended Reads
Strategic considerations have spurred Russia and China to develop balancing lines in Central Asia. Both countries, though, have crossed these lines at some point.
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The Future of Conquest

Dan Altman September 24, 2021 Recommended Reads
Modern conquest looks like what Russia did in Crimea and what China could do once again in the South China Sea. Unless the United States embraces a level of restraint not attempted since Pearl Harbor, sitting out future territorial conflicts may not come as easily as in the past.
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Will Russian Behavior Toward the US/West 'Improve' When Putin Is Gone?

Aleksandra Srdanovic August 11, 2021 RM Exclusives
A collection of views from leading policy experts on what we can expect on the global stage from a post-Putin Russia.
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Be Careful What You Wish For: Russia, China and Afghanistan after the Withdrawal

Jeffrey Mankoff July 29, 2021 RM Exclusives
Do Beijing and Moscow have sufficient influence to oversee a managed transition, contain any spillover of violence, and provide reassurance to anxious Afghanistan neighbors? The whole region is about to find out.
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Grand Illusions: The Impact of Misperceptions About Russia on U.S. Policy

Eugene Rumer and Richard Sokolsky July 08, 2021 Partner Posts
Getting Russia right—assessing its capabilities and intentions, the long-term drivers of its policy and threat perceptions, as well as its accomplishments—is essential because misreading them means wasted resources, distorted national priorities and increased risk of confrontation.
book review

Plokhy’s New Cuban Missile Crisis Book Offers Glimpse Into the Minds of Rank-and-File Soviet Officers

Simon Saradzhyan June 25, 2021 RM Exclusives
Harvard Professor Serhii Plokhy’s new book, “Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis,” offers new insights into the experiences of lower-level officers who participated in the perilous events that brought us to the brink of nuclear war nearly 60 years ago.
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Potential Fruits of the Biden-Putin Summit

Simon Saradzhyan June 04, 2021 RM Exclusives
At the Putin-Biden summit, both sides will likely be looking for low-hanging fruits—issues they can easily agree upon that stand to advance U.S. and Russian interests with minimal concessions. In our latest exclusive, Simon Saradzhyan considers low-hanging fruits, like scientific cooperation, and more ambitious topics, such as rules of the road in the cyber domain.
book review

Stoner’s Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Russia’s New Strength

Paul Saunders May 05, 2021 RM Exclusives
Kathryn E. Stoner's effort to measure Russia’s power comprises the bulk of her new book and provides a generally helpful overview of the country’s capabilities despite some limitations.
Competing Views on Russia

Matthew Rojansky on Russia

Aleksandra Srdanovic April 15, 2021 RM Exclusives
Rojansky is a proponent of de-escalating tensions between Russia and the United States and identifying mutual areas of interest for cooperation. Check out our compilation for his observations and policy ideas.
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