As a scholar, Raud has published on a wide range of subjects from cultural theory to pre-modern Japanese literature and philosophy, both in English and Estonian.

His work on Japan has dealt with some of the most important philosophical thinkers, notably Dōgen and Nishida Kitarō.

[10] The Reconstruction, The Brother and The Death of the Perfect Sentence, his latest novel to date, have been published in English.

[11][12][13] Raud has also frequently contributed to the Estonian public debate by opinion pieces, essays and critical newspaper columns, in which he has expressed left-liberal views and criticised nationalist attitudes.

[18] Cognitive adequacy is a term proposed by Rein Raud as a standard of judging cultural phenomena.

For example, before the Great Depression in the US many people thought that it is cognitively adequate to think of getting rich quickly through land speculation.