Paul Saunders

Oct 23, 2024 | russiamatters.org | Jo Inge Bekkevold |Paul Saunders |Harry Stevens |Thomas Graham

As Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts the first summit of BRICS+ in Tatarstan’s capital Kazan on Oct. 22–24, it has motivated me to update my comparison of this group of countries with the G-7 in terms of components of national power as of early 2024. This comparison has reaffirmed my earlier findings that BRICS has overtaken the G-7—which some in the former want to position as a rival to the latter—in key components such as economy and demography. But can BRICS put that advantage to use?

Oct 17, 2024 | russiamatters.org | Jo Inge Bekkevold |Paul Saunders |Harry Stevens |Simon Saradzhyan

October 17, 2024 A majority of Russians would support ending hostilities and launching peace negotiations, according to the results of a September 2024 poll by Russia's Levada Center1 on Russians' views on the war against Ukraine. However, when asked if Russia should make concessions in such negotiations, a vast majority answered in the negative.

Oct 3, 2024 | russiamatters.org | Paul Saunders |Harry Stevens |Marat Atnashev |Arvid Bell

Russia’s decisive turn toward China—politically, economically and technologically—has been among the most notable geopolitical consequences of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. Yet Moscow and Beijing had been edging closer for over a decade before the invasion and, regardless of their relationship with one another, American officials have seen each as a major national security and foreign policy challenge for some time.

May 21, 2024 | washingtontimes.com | Paul Saunders

OPINION: It has been two years since the U.S. and other Western countries imposed economic sanctions on Russia — the first effort to use sanctions to stop an invasion by another major power since the U.S. effort to compel Japan with an asset freeze and oil export ban in 1941. So, it’s a good time to assess Russia’s evolving global energy role and its implications for the United States and the world. The results are mixed. Russia has had varied success in adapting to sanctions.

May 10, 2023 | russiamatters.org | Pavel Luzin |Paul Saunders |Richard N. Haass |Charles A. Kupchan

Ever since Mikhail Mishustin was hoisted from his job as tax chief to become Russia's prime minister in 2020, analysts have said he would not be a potential successor to Vladimir Putin after the president's term ends next year. This take was hard to argue against.