The Historical Foundations of NATO-Russia Antagonism

Federico Basiricò, Federico Bellini, Carla Sartore, Thea Martina Zamparo, Krzysztof Bryla

This paper examines the evolution of post–Cold War security arrangements between Russia and the West through three foundational agreements: the START I Treaty (1991), the Budapest Memorandum (1994), and the NATO–Russia Founding Act (1997). By analyzing their legal commitments, strategic objectives, and subsequent implementation, the study shows how early hopes for cooperative security gradually eroded. It argues that these agreements—once pillars of arms control, sovereignty guarantees, and institutional cooperation—nonetheless contained ambiguities and structural tensions that contributed to the long-term breakdown of trust, shaping the origins of today’s European security crisis.