Conceptual assumptions in the area of ensuring national security are based on the fundamental interconnectedness and interdependence of the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation to 2020 and the Concept for Long-Term SocioEconomic Development of the Russian Federation to 2020.

4.The given Strategy forms the basis of the development of a system ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation, and presents a plan of action and measures intended to guarantee national security. It lays the foundations for constructive interaction among state bodies, organizations and social groups, in order to defend Russia’s national interests and safeguard the security of the individual, society and the state.

5.The main purpose of the given Strategy is to formulate and support, with the aid of national security forces, the internal and external conditions conducive to the implementation of strategic national priorities.

6.The given Strategy employs the following concepts:

—“national security”—the protection of the individual, society, and the state from domestic and foreign threats, which, in turn, ensures constitutional rights and freedoms, an appropriate quality of life for citizens, sovereignty, territorial integrity and stable development of the Russian federation, the defense and security of the state;

—“national interests of the Russian Federation”—the aggregate of the internal and external needs of the state in ensuring the protection and stable development of the individual, society, and the state;

—“threat to national security”—the direct or indirect possibility of damage to constitutional rights and freedoms, quality of life, sovereignty/territorial integrity, stable development of the RF, defense and security of the state;

—“strategic national priorities”—the most important directions in terms of ensuring national security, in accordance with which are realized the constitutional rights and freedoms of RF citizens, stable socioeconomic development, and the protection of the country’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity;

—“system of national security”—the forces and means which ensure national security;

—“forces of national security”—the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military formations and bodies which under federal legislation are designated as engaging in military and/or law enforcement service, and likewise federal organs of state power which participate in the provision of national security on the basis of legislation of the Russian Federation;

—“means of ensuring national security”—technologies, and likewise technical, programming, linguistic, legal, and organizational resources, including telecommunications channels, which are used within the system of provision of national security in order to collect, formulate, process, transmit or receive information on the status of national security and measures for its reinforcement.

7.The forces and means which ensure national security concentrate their efforts and resources on the provision of national security in the political, economic, and social spheres, in the areas of science and education, in the intercultural, spiritual, informational, military, military-industrial, and ecological spheres, and likewise in the area of social security.

II. RUSSIA AND THE MODERN WORLD: CURRENT CONDITIONS AND TRENDS OF DEVELOPMENT

8.World development is following the path of globalization in all spheres of international life, which, in turn, is characterized by a high degree of dynamism and interdependence of events.

Nation-states have experienced the intensification of conflicts connected to unequal development, as a result of globalizing processes, and of the deepening rift between rich and poor countries. Values and models of development have become the subject of global competition.

The vulnerability of all members of the international community to new threats and challenges has grown.

As a result of the rise of new centers of economic growth and political influence, a qualitatively new geopolitical situation is unfolding. There is an increasing tendency to seek resolutions to existing problems and regulate crisis situations on a regional basis, without the participation of non-regional powers.

The inadequacy of the current global and regional architecture, oriented (particularly in the Euro-Atlantic region) towards NATO, and likewise the imperfect nature of legal instruments and mechanisms, create an ever-increasing threat to international security.

9.The transition in the international system from opposing blocs to principles of multi-vector diplomacy, together with Russia’s resource potential and pragmatic policy for its use, have broadened the possibilities for the Russian Federation to reinforce its influence on the world stage.

The Russian Federation has sufficient potential to count on the creation, in the medium-term, of conditions conducive to its entrenchment among the leaders of the world economy, on the basis of effective participation in global division of labor, improved global competitiveness of the national economy, of defense potential, and of the level of state and social security.

10.A negative influence on the assurance of Russia’s national interests will be exerted by the likely recurrence of one-sided use of force in international relations, disagreements between the main participants in world politics, the threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of their use by terrorists, and likewise the improvement of forms of illicit activity in the cybernetic and biological domains, in the sphere of high technology. The global information struggle will intensify, threats will increase to the stability of industrialized and developing countries, their socioeconomic development and democratic institutions. Nationalist sentiments, xenophobia, separatism, and violent extremism will grow, including under the banner of religious radicalism. The global demographic situation and environmental problems will become more acute, and threats associated with uncontrolled and illegal migration, drug and human trafficking, and other forms of transnational organized crime, will also increase. Epidemics caused by new, previously unknown viruses are likely to spread. The deficit of fresh water will become more obvious.

11.In the long term, the attention of international politics will be focused on ownership of energy resources, including in the Near East, the Barents Sea shelf and other parts of the Arctic, in the Caspian basin, and in Central Asia.

In the medium term, the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as conflicts in the Near and Middle East, in a number of South Asian and African countries, and on the Korean peninsula, will continue to exert a negative influence on the international situation.

12.The critical condition of physical storage of dangerous materials and objects, especially in countries with unstable political situations, together with the proliferation of regular armaments beyond the control of the state, can lead to the intensification of existing, as well as the creation of new regional and interstate conflicts.

Under conditions of competition for resources, it is not excluded that arising problems may be resolved using military force, and that the current balance of power on the borders of Russia and its allies may be disturbed.

There is an increasing risk that the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons will rise.

The possibility of maintaining global and regional stability will substantially decrease with the placement in Europe of elements of the global missile defense system of the United States of America.

The consequences of global financial-economic crises may become comparable, in terms of overall losses, to the consequences of large-scale application of military force.