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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Does the International Liberal Order Have a Future?

Joseph S. Nye Jr. December 28, 2020 Partner Posts
The question Biden faces is not whether to restore the liberal international order. It is whether the United States can work with an inner core of allies while cooperating with a broader set of states to cope with transnational threats.
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What Is the Purpose of American Foreign Policy?

Jacob Heilbrunn December 20, 2020 Partner Posts
Several experts debate American interests and the goal of U.S. foreign policy.
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Black Radicalism and the USSR

Sean's Russia Blog November 13, 2020 Partner Posts
In this episode of Sean's Russia Blog, Sean Guillory talks with professors Meredith Roman and Minkah Makalani on Black experiences and engagement with Soviet communism.
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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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How U.S. Elections Could Impact EU-Russia Relations

Andrey Kortunov October 30, 2020 Partner Posts
Tuesday's elections in the U.S. could have significant effects on the EU-Russian relationship. Should Donald Trump be reelected, the EU will likely be forced to fight a "war on two fronts." On the other hand, if Biden is elected, U.S. foreign policy would likely "become more professional, rational, consistent and predictable," leading to both opportunities and challenges for Russia and the EU.
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Russian Imperialism Revisited: From Disengagement to Hegemony

Domitilla Sagramoso October 29, 2020 Partner Posts
Sagramoso challenges the assumption that Russia intends to restore an informal empire over its ‘Near Abroad’. Rather, she argues that Russia’s policies are much more complex, multi-faceted and incoherent than is often assumed.
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Have America’s Russia Watchers Been Getting It Wrong?

Center for the National Interest October 27, 2020 Partner Posts
Washington's surprise at Russia's behavior over the past few decades suggests that American experts — now more than ever — are struggling to assess and predict Russian actions.
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Putin, Putinism and the Domestic Determinants of Russian Foreign Policy

Michael McFaul October 19, 2020 Partner Posts
For a complete understanding of Russian foreign policy today, individuals, ideas, and institutions—President Vladimir Putin, Putinism, and autocracy—must be added to the analysis. Putin's ideas about illiberalism, orthodoxy, sovereignty and the West shaped his decision-making in unique ways. 
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Time For Russia and Other Great Powers to Move From Words to Actions to End Karabakh War

Simon Saradzhyan October 08, 2020 Partner Posts
Russia remains the only country capable of single-handedly compelling Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the conflict in Karabakh. Yet, it has so far been unwilling to back its calls with the deeds needed to compel both sides to lay down arms, even if only temporarily.
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Why Russia’s Alliance With China is Improbable, But Not Impossible

Simon Saradzhyan September 21, 2020 Partner Posts
The relationship between China and Russia is getting stronger by the hour. While some might say that Russia and China are in a de facto non-aggression pact, a deeper alliance is still unlikely, though not impossible.
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Protests in Belarus

Sean's Russia Blog September 11, 2020 Partner Posts
A few weeks ago, Lukashenko’s rule seemed on the verge of collapse. But now things appear at a stalemate. For the larger context for these mass protests and what they mean, SRB turned to Elena Gapova for some insight.
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Belarus At the Eye of the Storm

Center for the National Interest August 25, 2020 Partner Posts
The rapidly developing situation in Belarus could potentially trigger the most significant shift in the European status quo since events in Ukraine in 2014. The Center for the National interest and some of the leading Russian and American foreign policy experts discuss the potential effects of the ongoing protests in Minsk.