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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Is the “Resource Curse” Irreversible? Experiences of the Russian Regions

Delgerjargal Uvsh April 05, 2021 Partner Posts
The experiences of Russia’s oil- and gas-producing regions after the collapse of the Soviet Union suggests that political elites can make a difference in reversing the “resource curse” if their abundant revenues from natural resources decline.
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Neither U.S. Candidate Bodes Well for Russia’s Energy Market

Tatiana Mitrova November 02, 2020 Partner Posts
The Republican and Democratic candidates have fundamentally opposite views on developing the energy sector, but whoever wins—and for different reasons—it won't be good news for Russia’s oil and gas industry.
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The Oil Price Crash: Will the Kremlin’s Policies Change?

Tatiana Mitrova July 08, 2020 Partner Posts
The coronavirus pandemic and the steep drop of oil and gas prices may pose a serious challenge to Russia’s economic model. Mitrova argues that current shocks to the Russian energy market could pale in comparison to long-term consequences.
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Ukraine, Not Russia, Will Sue for Peace as Pandemic Pressure Rises

Joseph Haberman May 14, 2020 Recommended Reads
With the prospect of a major economic crisis, Russia and Ukraine may face increasing pressure to lessen the burden to their economies and populations by seeking a peace settlement in Donbass. The pandemic could compel Ukraine to capitulate first.
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The Problem With Fearmongering About Russian Electoral Interference

Joseph Haker and Andrew Paul February 24, 2020 Recommended Reads
Blaming outsiders distracts attention from the very real domestic problems that make "disinformation" campaigns coherent in the first place.
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Of Putin and Global Health: Friend or Foe?

Center for Strategic and International Studies October 01, 2019 Partner Posts
In this special joint episode of Russian Roulette and Take as Directed, CSIS senior fellow Jeffrey Mankoff is joined by J. Stephen Morrison,and Judy Twigg to discuss Stephen and Judy’s recent report "Putin and Global Health: Friend or Foe?" which outlines their recommendations for expanding U.S. engagement to promote health security and counter Russian influence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The Mueller Report and the Silence of the Experts

Timothy Frye July 24, 2019 Recommended Reads
Frye argues that discussions in the media during the run-up to the Mueller Report release lacked the "hard-edged skepticism, demand for evidence, and appreciation of what we can and cannot know" that academics and experts can provide.
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The Paradox of American Russophobia

Sean Guillory July 03, 2019 Recommended Reads
The Russian government’s use of Russophobia to chastise critics is nothing new, but this doesn’t mean Russophobia doesn’t exist. It’s a way of “displacing an internal conflict to an external object symbolically related to the conflict.”
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Can Washington and Moscow Agree to Limit Political Interference?

Samuel Charap and Ivan Timofeev June 13, 2019 Recommended Reads
The concept of elaborating norms of non-interference on a mutual basis might be the best way to stabilize U.S.-Russian relations and prevent the damaging episodes of recent years from happening again.
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The Golunov Case Exposes Russia’s ‘Submerged State’

Alexey Yeremenko June 13, 2019 Recommended Reads
The 'submerged-state' is the level of government most often interacted with by investors and is capable of derailing the policies of the ‘outer state.’
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The Folly of ‘Russiagate’

Stephen Kinzer April 04, 2019 Recommended Reads
The election of U.S. President Donald Trump was not, we now learn, the result of a conspiracy directed from Moscow. But this finding by special prosecutor Robert Mueller will change few minds: once again, as in the 1950s, everything is Russia’s fault—no matter what Mueller says.
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Withdrawing From the INF Treaty: Consequences and Costs

RM Staff October 23, 2018 Partner Posts
Experts weigh in on Donald Trump's decision to pull out from the landmark arms-control deal.