ABSTRACT
If the notion of Russia appears as a real challenge to the most renowned of its national intellectuals, it is easy to imagine what challenge it could represent to those non-natives having to deal with it. Many came up against this ‘riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’, as Sir Winston Churchill once said. To many, this very challenge of understanding the workings of the Russian identity2 acted and still acts as a deterring factor. When NATO embarked on closer relations with Russia, many experts had produced the Russian identity argument as the main impediment to the success of this endeavour. Therefore, whoever wishes to analyse NATO-Russia relations, especially with the aim of confirming the feasibility and utility of these relations, has no choice but to start grappling with this tortuous issue and to try lifting all the fears that are linked to it.
