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.
explainer

The Origins and Efficacy of the Price Cap on Russian Oil

Benjamin H. Harris September 14, 2023 RM Exclusives
The price cap on Russian oil is achieving its goals of lowering Russian revenue while preserving global supply.
explainer

How Will the ICC’s Arrest Warrant for Putin Actually Work?

Gleb Bogush April 04, 2023 RM Exclusives
A major legal obstacle will come from his status as head of state, which can pose significant challenges for a state that aims to arrest him under its ICC obligations.
explainer

Can International Law Bring a Measure of Justice to Ukraine?

Kevin Jon Heller March 22, 2023 RM Exclusives
Very few options currently exist for prosecuting the high-ranking Russian government and military leaders who are responsible for the invasion.
explainer

Ukraine War Fallout Highlights How Russia Matter(ed?) to Global Economy

RM Staff May 05, 2022 RM Exclusives
Industries from energy and agriculture to computer chips and electric-car batteries have been hurt by the fighting, the international sanctions and their knock-on effects.
article

US SolarWinds Response Unlikely to Change Russia’s Behavior, Highlights Need for Improved Cyber Defense

Paul Kolbe April 27, 2021 RM Exclusives
However powerful our offensive cyber capability is, it has deterred neither China’s sustained campaign to erode our advantages nor Russia’s asymmetric use of low-cost tools to extract high-value intelligence, propaganda and political advantage.
article

In the Wake of SolarWinds: Making and Breaking a Rules-Based Global Cyber Order

Anatol Lieven April 07, 2021 RM Exclusives
Few things have been more damaging to U.S. and European hopes of a “rules-based global order” than the perception that the U.S. both makes the rules and breaks them whenever it sees fit, including in cyberspace.
article

Punitive Response to SolarWinds Would Be Misplaced, But Cyber Deterrence Still Matters

Erica D. Borghard March 31, 2021 RM Exclusives
The pursuit of deterrence strategies to address other types of malicious behavior in cyberspace, beyond espionage, is not a fool’s errand. Deterrence is not a one-size-fits-all concept in cyberspace—or in any other domain.
article

US Response to SolarWinds Cyber Penetrations: A Good Defense Is the Best Offense

Paul Kolbe March 25, 2021 RM Exclusives
A carefully calibrated shot across the bow is appropriate in response to SolarWinds, but such responses will not stop cyber espionage or assaults. Russia is but one wolf in a growing pack of cyber predators, and the U.S. is simply too fat and easy a target.
column

We Need to Have a Talk About Alexei Navalny

Terrell Jermaine Starr March 01, 2021 Recommended Reads
If Navalny is serious about challenging the current regime, Russians—and the outside world—have a right to know precisely whom we’re dealing with.
multimedia

A Conversation Between Graham Allison and Angela Stent

Graham Allison and Angela Stent August 01, 2020 Recommended Reads
The U.S. leadership is slowly waking up to the reality of a Russia-China entente. This is an unnatural partnership. But U.S. policies have driven China and Russia closer, and Putin and Xi have managed their differences well.
column

The Curious Case of ‘Russian Lives Matter’

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon July 11, 2020 Recommended Reads
In Moscow, the Kremlin attacks U.S. racism while the liberal opposition ignores it, or worse.
article

Unplugging the Baltic States: Why Russia’s Economic Approach May Be Shifting

Emily Ferris July 01, 2020 RM Exclusives
The probability of Russia resorting to a Crimea-style intervention in the Baltics remains low. As a key energy supplier and major trading partner for the region, Russia has more to gain by using economic levers as opposed to military ones to retain influence.
Refine & Filter

By Section

By Topic

By Country

By Regions

By Groups

By Genre