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.
research paper

Jihadists from Ex-Soviet Central Asia: Where Are They? Why Did They Radicalize? What Next?

Edward Lemon, Vera Mironova and William Tobey December 07, 2018 RM Exclusives
Three authors draw on field work and other research to assess the motives, prospects and threats linked to Central Asian jihadists, including the thousands who joined Islamic State and other violent extremists in the Middle East.
article

US Security and Russia: Choices and Consequences

Jill Dougherty and Thomas Zamostny December 07, 2018 Partner Posts
America’s current strategy toward Russia, simply put, is not working; instead, it’s tying our hands. It’s making Russia more aggressive externally and less democratic internally. The dangers are escalating.
article

Putin Doesn’t Sweat His Unpopularity

Nate Reynolds November 28, 2018 Recommended Reads
Russian President Vladimir Putin's dip in popularity will mostly prove that he is far more resilient than the West would like to think.
article

Trump-Putin G20 Summit: High Stakes and Strained Dialogue

Matthew Rojansky November 28, 2018 RM Exclusives
As high-level U.S.-Russian contacts are again plagued by deep disagreement, both sides face a list of urgent global security challenges that can be managed only through dialogue.
article

Why Putin Is Pressuring Ukraine

Nikolas K. Gvosdev November 27, 2018 Recommended Reads
What Russia has been doing in the Sea of Azov over the past few months is to push for the creation of a new normal.
Competing Views on Russia

Robert Legvold on Russia: Insights and Recommendations

RM Staff November 20, 2018 RM Exclusives
“The chances in … the next 10-15 years of a nuclear weapon being fired in anger are far greater now than they ever were during the Cold War.” This and more from one of America’s top Russia scholars.
article

Why Violence Is Becoming the Norm in Russia

Vladimir Ruvinsky November 19, 2018 Recommended Reads
A recent survey shows that Russians are increasingly tolerant of violence and cruelty.
article

China and Russia's Awkward Romance

Jonathan Hillman November 15, 2018 Recommended Reads
The U.S. should work selectively with both China and Russia and reestablish itself as a natural wedge between them as opposed to becoming the bridge that unites them.
article

After US Midterms, Dialogue With Russia May Become Easier, Not Harder

Paul J. Saunders November 14, 2018 RM Exclusives
With a less-than-stellar showing by Democrats, a new high-level channel of communication and voters uninterested in Russia, the Trump administration may have a better chance of pursuing dialogue with Moscow than before.
article

Why Putin Encouraged Sham Elections in Eastern Ukraine

Leonid Bershidsky November 13, 2018
The Russian leader must resign himself to institutionalizing the statelets and making sure people there can survive the long haul.
article

Election Gambit: What’s Behind Russia’s Sanctions on Ukrainian Politicians and Businessmen?

Konstantin Skorkin November 12, 2018
Moscow’s behavior is not about getting Ukrainian oligarchs to support a hypothetical Russian candidate in the upcoming Ukrainian elections.
article

India and Russia: Ties That Bind

Aaditya Dave November 12, 2018 Recommended Reads
India and Russia both have various incentives to keep their bilateral relationship strong.
Refine & Filter

By Section

By Topic

By Country

By Regions

By Groups

By Genre