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Can Russia Develop a New State Ideology? By David Lewis. The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies – RUSI, January 17, 2023.
When Vladimir Putin first came to power, he showed little interest in the world of ideas. He seemed to be a ruthless opportunist, not an ideologue. Many analysts overlooked his growing interest in philosophy and history. Some continue to dismiss his rambling essays and speeches as unhinged rants, a litany of anti-Westernism and conspiracy theories.

Countering Russian threats to global financial security by Benton Coblentz. Atlantic Council, February 9, 2023.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has awoken the Western world to the threat posed by Kremlin aggression and Russian weaponization of global institutions. For years, the Kremlin and its proxies have exploited the rules-based global financial system for their gain and in service of Moscow’s geopolitical strategy. Following the invasion of Ukraine, there is now a growing impetus in the West to counter such activity.

Is Putin’s Russia heading for collapse like its Czarist and Soviet predecessors? by Taras Byk. Atlantic Council, February 9, 2023.
An event on this scale would have been hard to imagine just one year ago. However, the invasion of Ukraine has thrust the topic of Russian imperialism firmly into the European mainstream. Over the past year, a steady stream of analytical articles and opinion pieces have appeared in respected international publications accusing Vladimir Putin of pursuing an imperial agenda in Ukraine and calling for the decolonization of Russia itself. While there is still no consensus on the desirability of a new Russian collapse, the topic is no longer taboo.

The Myth of a Future Russia by Andrei Babitsky. Wilson Center, February 23, 2023.
When it comes to the future of Russia, one set of questions bothers people both within the country and beyond. It boils down to these: Will Russia curb its expansionist ambitions? Will the empire fall apart? Will Russia stop being a threat to the world?
Stopping Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is a necessary step to get a yes on all three, but hardly sufficient.

What’s a Russian? By Ivan Fomin. Center for European Policy Analysis—CEPA, January 26, 2023.
Likely, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine will eventually force Russians to reconsider, redefine, and reimagine their national identity. This conversation will need to begin with the question of responsibility for the crimes committed in Ukraine, but that will hardly be the end of it. One way or another, Russians will have to reckon with their history and collective understanding of themselves.