Russia and security [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

Relations between the European Union and Russia remain strained after the EU extended its sanctions against the country late in June until 31 January 2018, citing a lack of progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements aimed to end of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its conflict with Ukraine have challenged the post-Cold War security order in Europe. Russia’s other assertive foreign policy moves, such as its role in the Syrian war and steps to extend its sphere of influence in Europe, also worry many Western security analysts.

This note offers links to commentaries, studies by major international think tanks, which discuss Russia’s policies and how to respond to them. More reports on the topic can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are Thinking’, published in October 2016.

Russia and the rest of Europe

The NATO-Russia founding act: A dead letter
Carnegie Europe, June 2017

The renewal of the Russian challenge in European security: History as a guide to policy
German Marshall Fund, June 2017

The great unravelling: Four doomsday scenarios for Europe’s Russia policy
European Council on Foreign Relations, June 2017

The Donbas Blockade: Another blow to the Minsk peace process
Centre for European Policy Studies, June 2017

Getting beyond Minsk: Toward a resolution of the conflict in Ukraine
Transatlantic Academy, May 2017

Crimintern: How the Kremlin uses Russia’s criminal networks in Europe
European Council on Foreign Relations, April 2017

Europe and the great powers: Playing our Trump Cards
Egmont, April 2017

The new NATO-Russia military balance: Implications for European security
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2017

Contested space: Eastern Europe between Russia and the EU
Centre for European Reform, March 2017

Reducing tensions between Russia and NATO
Council on Foreign Relations, March 2017

What the EU can do for Belarus and Russia
Carnegie Europe, March 2017

President Dodon’s visit to Brussels: Contemplating economic suicide
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2017

Belarus et Russie: Divorce en cours
Groupe de Recherche et d’Information sur la Paix et la Sécurité, February 2017

A strategy for Europe’s neighbourhood: Keep resilient and carry on?
Real Institut Elcano, January 2017

The wind that blows from the east: Russian influence in Central and Eastern Europe
Center for the Study of Democracy, January 2017

Heavy metal diplomacy: Russia’s political use of its military in Europe since 2014
European Council on Foreign Relations, November 2016

The implications of Russia’s legislative vote for the EU
College of Europe, November 2016

Other studies on security and politics

New protests question Russia’s social contract
Carnegie Europe, June 2017

Meeting the Russian hybrid challenge: A comprehensive strategic framework
Atlantic Council, May 2017

What does Russia want?
European Council on Foreign Relations, May 2017

Energy, Russian influence and democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe: A comparative assessment and case studies from Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Romania
Expert Forum, National Endowment for Democracy, May 2017

Iceland’s relations with its regional powers: Alignment with the EU-US sanctions on Russia
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, May 2017

Is Russia extending its Syria strategy to Libya?
German Marshall Fund, May 2017

Russia in action, short of war
Rand Corporation, May 2017

How Russia became the Jihadists’ No. 1 target
Rand Corporation, April 2017

Grundeinstellungen der russischen politischen Elite: Recht, Wahrheit, Gemeinwohl und Gewalt
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, March 2017

Armenia: Russia first, EU second?
European Union Institute for Security Studies, March 2017

Russia’s role as an arms exporter: The strategic and economic importance of arms exports for Russia
Chatham House, March 2017

The information battle: How governments in the former Soviet Union promote their agendas and attack their opponents abroad
Foreign Policy Centre, March 2017

The Russian web in the Mediterranean region
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, February 2017

Russia’s best enemy: Russian policy towards the United States in Putin’s era
Centre for Eastern Studies, February 2017

China and Russia: An Eastern partnership in the making?
European Union Institute for Security Studies, February 2017

Russia’s nuclear energy diplomacy in the Middle East: Why the EU should take notice
European Policy Centre, February 2017

Russia’s attempts to influence the presidential election in France
Polish Institute for International Relations, February 2017

Dealing with a revanchist Russia
Rand Corporation, February 2017

Russia in Syria: Domestic drivers and regional implications
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Maison du Futur, January 2017

Going to the people and back again: The changing shape of the Russian regime
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, January 2017

The future of U.S.-Russia relations
Center for a New American Security, January 2017

US, Russia, and the world: The passing of empires
Dahrendorf Forum, January 2017

Russia’s evolving South Caucasus policy: Security concerns amid ethno-political conflict
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, January 2017

Evaluating western sanctions on Russia
Atlantic Council, December 2017

Renewing mechanisms for Russia-EU cooperation
Russian International Affairs Council, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, November 2016

La Russie et l’Europe centrale et orientale: Entre confrontations et connivences
Institut français des relations internationales, November 2016

Western intelligence and counter-intelligence in a time of Russian disinformation
Institute for European Studies, November  2016

The Kremlin’s Trojan horses
Atlantic Council, November 2016

Russia’s 2016 Duma elections: Ambiguous triumph and new challenges for the regime
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, November 2016

Neubelebung der konventionellen Rüstungskontrolle in Europa: Ein Beitrag zur militärischen Stabilität in Zeiten der Krise
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, November 2016

Europe’s security governance and transatlantic relations: The West, Russia and Europe’s security order
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, November 2016

Russische Regionen: Sichere Basis oder Quelle der Instabilität für den Kreml?
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, November 2016

Economy

Nord Stream 2 means gains for Germany but pain for Europe
Bruegel, June 2017

The Kremlin’s gas games in Europe: Implications for policy makers
Atlantic Council, May 2017

The Eurasian Economic Union: Deals, rules and the exercise of power
Chatham House, May 2017

The Caspian Sea and Southern gas corridor: A view from Russia
Atlantic Council, April 2017

The EU antitrust case: No big deal for Gazprom
Bruegel, March 2017

Collapse of the ruble zone and its lessons
Bruegel, March 2017

The Russian economy in focus: recovery is further away than some might think
Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, February 2017

Painful adaptation: The social consequences of the crisis in Russia
Centre for Eastern Studies, February 2017

Nord Stream 2: A Legal and policy analysis
Centre for European Policy Studies, November 2016