Putin’s Russia [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski

Russia’s assertive foreign policy, annexation of Crimea, conflict with Ukraine and, recently, military operation in Syria are further challenging the assumptions of the post-Cold War world order. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, President Vladimir Putin’s government is seen to be increasingly repressive.

The sanctions against Moscow imposed by the United States and the European Union have hit the Russian economy hard, but do not appear to have weakened President Putin’s resolve to pursue policies which are highly criticised in the West. The EU, US and other countries are looking for the best options of dealing with Russia while trying to determine what drives President Putin’s actions.

This note offers links to commentaries, studies and reports by major international think tanks, which discuss Russia’s policies and how to respond to them.

Putin’s gamble in Syria
Chatham House, October 2015

The EU-Russia gas relationship: New projects, new disputes?
Finnish Institute of International Relations, October 2015

Que faire de la Russie ? Que faire avec la Russie ?
Institut français des relations internationales, October 2015

Russian ideology after Crimea
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, September 2015

What are Russia’s interests in Syria?
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, September 2015

Russian foreign policy in historical and current context
Rand Corporation, September 2015

The Russian military
Council on Foreign Relations, September 2015

Hiding in plain sight: Putin’s war in Ukraine
Atlantic Council, September 2015

Energy sanctions and Russia: What comes next?
Atlantic Council, September 2015

Guerre de l’information : Le web russe dans le conflit en Ukraine
Institut français des relations internationales, September 2015

The discreet charm of Vladimir Putin
European Council on Foreign Relations, September 2015

Russia’s challenge to the international order
Carnegie Europe, August 2015

The new ice curtain
Center for Strategic and International Studies, August 2015

The new Ice Curtain: Russia’s strategic reach to the Arctic
Centre for European Policy Studies, August 2015

Chasing the dragon: Russia’s courtship of China
Centre for European Reform, August 2015

Managed nationalism: contemporary Russian nationalistic movements and their relationship to the government
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, August 2015

Avoiding war in Europe: How to reduce the risk of a military encounter between Russia and NATO
Polish Institute of International Affairs, July 2015

La relation France-Russie à l’épreuve
Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, July 2015

The bear and the beaver: Russia and European energy security
European Union Institute for Security Studies, July 2015

The offshore nexus, sanctions and the Russian crisis
Instituto Affari Internazionali, July 2015

Going regional the Russian way: The Eurasian Economic Union between instrumentalism and global social appropriateness
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, July 2015

Russische Direktinvestitionen in Eurasien: Machtpolitik mit anderen Mitteln?
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, July 2015

One year on from the annexation of Crimea
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, July 2015

Russia of the 2010s: How to live with it and how to outlive it
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, June 2015

The Russian challenge
Chatham House, June 2015

What’s ahead for Russia and the West? Four scenarios
German Marshall Fund of the United States, June 2015

Self-inflicted marginalization? Illiberal Russia in search for its own reality
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, June 2015

Russian foreign policy: Domestic constraints
European Union Institute for Security Studies, June 2015

Will China and Russia form an alliance against the United States?
Danish Institute of International Studies, June 2015

Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine: Breaking the enemy’s ability to resist
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, June 2015

Beyond Ukraine: EU and Russia in search of a new relation
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, June 2015

Russia and the Visegrad Group: The Ukrainian challenge
Russian International Affairs Council, June 2015

Russia’s economic troubles: A perfect storm of falling oil prices, sanctions and lack of reforms
Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, May 2015

A ‘new Cold War’? Abusing history, misunderstanding Russia
Chatham House, May 2015

Back to the difficult past: Central and Eastern Europe’s relationship with Russia
Polish Institute of International Affairs, May 2015

Conflicting aims, limited means: Russia in the Middle East
FRIDE, May 2015

An unholy alliance: The European far right and Putin’s Russia
Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, May 2015

Sanctions against Russia: Evasion, compensation and over-compliance
European Union Institute for Security Studies, May 2015

Russia and East Central Europe after the cold war: a fundamentally transformed relationship
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, May 2015

Misunderstandings and tensions, a new normality in EU-Russia relations?
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, May 2015

EU-Russia relations in the context of the eastern neighbourhood
Bertelsmann Stiftung, May 2015

Close together or far apart? Poles, Germans and Russians on the Russia-Ukraine crisis
Polish Institute of Public Affairs, Bertelsmann Stiftung, April 2015

What should Europe’s policy be towards Russia?
Fondation Robert Schuman, March 2015

Crimea one year after Russian annexation
European Policy Centre, March 2015

Putin: The morally depraved degradation of a strong state leader
Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2015

Frozen: The politics and economics of sanctions against Russia
Centre for European Reform, March 2015

Troubled times: stagnation, sanctions and the prospects for economic reform in Russia
Chatham House, February 2015

The economic and financial crisis in Russia: Background, symptoms and prospects for the future
Eastern Studies Centre, February 2015

West-Russia relations in light of the Ukraine crisis
Instituto Affari Internazionali, February 2015

Potemkin conservatism: An ideological tool of the Kremlin
Eastern Studies Centre, February 2015

Les relations germano-russes : Entre changement de paradigme et maintien du statu quo
Institut français des relations internationales, February 2015

A region disunited? Central European responses to the Russia-Ukraine crisis
German Marshall Fund of the United States, February 2015

A “soft alliance”? Russia-China relations after the Ukraine crisis
European Council on Foreign Relations, February 2015

EU sanctions policy towards Russia: The sanctioner-sanctionee’s game of thrones
Centre for European Policy Studies, January 2015