4 August 2001. Thanks to IR.
Source: http://www.russiaeurope.mid.ru/RussiaEurope/russiastrat2000.html

Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation
to the Council of Europe

Strasbourg

_______________________________________________________

2000 Russian National Security Concept

The national security blueprint [kontseptsiya] of the Russian Federation (hereinafter "blueprint") is a system of views on how to ensure in the Russian Federation security of the individual, society and state against external and internal threats in any aspect of life and activity. The blueprint defines the most important directions of the state policy of the Russian Federation.

The national security of the Russian Federation is understood to mean the security of its multinational people, in whom reside sovereignty and the sole source of authority in the Russian Federation.

I. Russia in the world community

The situation in the world is characterized by a dynamic transformation of the system of international relations. Following the end of the bipolar confrontation era, two mutually-exclusive trends took shape.

The first of these trends shows itself in the strengthened economic and political positions of a significant number of states and their integrative associations and in improved mechanisms for multilateral management of international processes. Economic, political, science and technological, environmental and information factors are playing an ever-increasing role. Russia will facilitate the formation of an ideology of establishing a multipolar world on this basis.

The second trend shows itself in attempts to create an international relations structure based on domination by developed Western countries in the international community, under US leadership and designed for unilateral solutions (including the use of military force) to key issues in world politics in circumvention of the fundamental rules of international law.

The formation of international relations is accompanied by competition and also by the aspiration of a number of states to strengthen their influence on global politics, including by creating weapons of mass destruction. Military force and violence remain substantial aspects of international relations.

Russia is one of the world's major countries, with centuries of history and rich cultural traditions. Despite the complex international situation and its own temporary difficulties, Russia continues to play an important role in global processes by virtue of its great economic, scientific, technological and military potential and its unique strategic location on the Eurasian continent.

There are prospects for the Russian Federation's broader integration into the world economy and for expanded cooperation with international economic and financial institutions. The commonality of interests of Russia and other states is objectively preserved in many international security problems, including opposing the proliferation of mass destruction weapons, settling and preventing regional conflicts, fighting international terrorism and the drugs trade, and resolving acute ecological problems of a global nature, including nuclear and radiation safety.

At the same time, a number of states are stepping up efforts to weaken Russia politically, economically, militarily and in other ways. Attempts to ignore Russia's interests when solving major issues of international relations, including conflict situations, are capable of undermining international security, stability, and the positive changes achieved in international relations.

Terrorism is transnational in nature and poses a threat to world stability. This issue has exacerbated sharply in many countries, including in the Russian Federation, and to fight it requires unification of efforts by the entire international community, increased effectiveness of existing ways of countering this threat, and also urgent action to neutralize it.

II. Russia's national interests

Russia's national interests are the combined and balanced interests of the individual, society and the state in economic; domestic political, social, international, informational, military, border, ecological security. They are long-term in nature and define the main goals and strategic and short-term goals of the state's domestic and foreign policy. The national interests are secured by institutions of state authority, which may also act in coordination with public organizations operating on the basis of the constitution and legislation of the Russian Federation.

The interests of the individual lie in exercise of constitutional rights and freedoms and provision of personal security; in an improved quality and standard of living; and in physical, spiritual and intellectual development.

The interests of society lie in strengthening democracy; creating a rule-of-law and social state; in achieving and maintaining public harmony and in the spiritual renewal of Russia.

The interests of the state lie in the inviolability of the constitutional system and of Russia's sovereignty and territorial integrity; in political, economic and social stability; in unconditional assurance of lawfulness and maintenance of law and order; and in the development of international cooperation on equal terms and to mutual benefit.

Russia's national interests may be assured only on the basis of sustainable economic development. Therefore Russia's national interests in economics are of key importance.

Russia's national interests in the domestic political sphere lie in stability of the constitutional system and of state authority and its institutions; in ensuring civil peace and national accord, territorial integrity, unity of the legal domain, and law and order; in completing the process of establishing a democratic society; and in removing factors causing and feeding social, intercommunal and religious conflicts, political extremism, national and religious separatism, and terrorism.

Russia's national interests in the social sphere lie in assurance of a high standard of living for its people.

The national interests in the spiritual sphere lie in preservation and strengthening of society's moral values, traditions of patriotism and humanism, and the country's cultural and scientific potential.

Russia's national interests in the international sphere lie in upholding its sovereignty and strengthening its position as a great power and as one of the influential centres of a multipolar world, in development of equal and equitable relations with all countries and integrative associations and in particular with the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Russia's traditional partners, in universal observance of human rights and freedoms and the impermissibility of dual standards in this respect.

Russia's national interests in the informational sphere lie in observance of its citizens' constitutional rights and freedoms to receive and make use of information, in the development of modern telecommunications, and in protecting the state's information resources from unsanctioned access.

Russia's national interests in the military sphere lie in protection of its independence, sovereignty and state and territorial integrity, in the prevention of military aggression against Russia and its allies and in ensuring the conditions for peaceful and democratic development of the state.

Russia's national interests in border policy lie in the establishment of political, legal, organizational and other conditions for ensuring reliable protection of the state border of the Russian Federation, and in observance of the procedure and rules laid down by Russian Federation legislation for the carrying on of economic and all other kinds of activity within the borders of the Russian Federation.

Russia's national interests in the environmental sphere lie in the preservation and improvement of the environment.

A vital component of Russia's national interests is protection of the individual, society and state from terrorism, including international terrorism, and also from extraordinary situations, both natural and man-made, and their consequences, and in times of war from the dangers arising from the conduct and consequences of military action.

III. Threats to the Russian Federation's national security

The condition of the national economy and incomplete nature of the system and structure of the authorities of state and of society, social and political polarization of society and criminalization of social relations, the growth of organized crime and terrorism, and a deterioration in intercommunal and international relations are all creating a broad range of internal and external threats to the country's security.

In the economy, these threats are of a comprehensive nature and are caused above all by a substantial contraction in the gross domestic product; reduced investment and innovation; diminished scientific and technological potential; stagnation in agriculture; a distorted banking system; growth in the state's internal and external debt; and domination of exports by fuel, raw materials and energy components of imports by food and consumer items, including consumer essentials.

A weakened scientific and technological potential, reduction in research in strategically-important areas of science and technology and departure for abroad of specialists and intellectual property mean that Russia is faced with the threat of loss of its leading world positions, decay of its high-technology industries, increased dependence on foreign technology and the undermining of its ability to defend itself.

Adverse trends in the economy lie at the root of the separatist aspirations of a number of constituent parts of the Russian Federation. This leads to increased political instability and a weakening of Russia's unified economic domain and its most important components - industrial production, transportation links, and the finance, banking, credit and tax systems.

Economic disintegration, social stratification and the dilution of spiritual values promote tension between regions and the centre and pose a threat to the federal structure and the socioeconomic fabric of the Russian Federation.

Ethno-egoism, ethnocentrism and chauvinism as manifested in the activity of a number of public formations, and also uncontrolled migration promote nationalism, political and religious extremism and ethnoseparatism, and create a breeding ground for conflicts.

The country's single legal domain is being eroded by nonobservance of the principle that the Constitution of the Russian Federation should prevail over other legal standards and that federal law should prevail over laws of constituent parts of the Russian Federation, and also by poor coordination of state management at various levels.

The threat of criminalization of the society that has emerged from reform of the socio-political system and economy is becoming especially acute. Serious mistakes made in the initial stage of economic, military, law-enforcement and other reform, weakened state regulation and control, imperfect legislation, absence of a strong state social policy, and a decline in society's spiritual-moral potential are the main factors aiding growth in crime, especially organized crime, and corruption.

The consequences of these miscalculations can be seen in weakened legislative supervision of the situation in the country; in the merger of certain elements of executive and legislative authority with criminal structures; and in their infiltration of the banking system, major industries, trade organizations and supply networks. In connection with this, the fight against crime and corruption is not only legal but also political in nature.

The scale of terrorism and organized crime is growing because of the conflicts that frequently accompany changes of ownership and also an increased struggle for power along clan and ethnic or nationalist interests. The lack of an effective system in society for preventing legal infringements, inadequate legal and logistic support for the battle against organized crime and terrorism, legal nihilism and the departure of qualified personnel from the law-enforcement agencies are all increasing the impact that this threat has on the individual, society and the state.

Stratification of society into a narrow circle of the rich and preponderant mass of the needy and increasing numbers of people below the poverty threshold and growing unemployment pose a threat to Russia's security in the social sphere.

A threat to the nation's physical health can be seen in the crisis in the systems of public health and social protection of the population, in increasing consumption of alcohol and narcotics.

The consequences of this profound social crisis are a sharp drop in the birth rate and average life expectancy, distortion of the demographic and social composition of society, an undermining of the workforce as the foundation for industrial development, a weakening of the fundamental nucleus of society - the family - and a decline in society's spiritual, moral and creative potential.

Deepening crisis in the domestic political, social and spiritual spheres could lead to the loss of democratic gains.

The fundamental threats in the international sphere are brought about by the following factors:

• the desire of some states and international associations to diminish the role of existing mechanisms for ensuring international security, above all the United Nations and the OSCE;
  
• the danger of a weakening of Russia's political, economic and military influence in the world;
  
• the strengthening of military-political blocs and alliances, above all NATO's eastward expansion;
  
• the possible emergence of foreign military bases and major military presences in the immediate proximity of Russian borders;
  
• proliferation of mass destruction weapons and their delivery vehicles;
  
• the weakening of integrational processes in the Commonwealth of Independent States;
  
• outbreak and escalation of conflicts near the state border of the Russian Federation and the external borders of CIS member states;
  
• territorial claims on Russia.

Threats to the Russian Federation's national security in the international sphere can be seen in attempts by other states to oppose a strengthening of Russia as one of the influential centres of a multipolar world, to hinder the exercise of its national interests and to weaken its position in Europe, the Middle East, Transcaucasus, Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific Region

Terrorism represents a serious threat to the national security of the Russian Federation. International terrorism is waging an open campaign to destabilize Russia.

There is an increased threat to the national security of the Russian Federation in the information sphere. A serious danger arises from the desire of a number of countries to dominate the global information domain space and to expel Russia from the external and internal information market; from the development by a number of states of "information warfare" concepts that entail creation of ways of exerting a dangerous effect on other countries' information systems, of disrupting information and telecommunications systems and data storage systems, and of gaining unauthorized access to them.

The level and scope of the military threat are growing.

Elevated to the rank of strategic doctrine, NATO's transition to the practice of using military force outside its zone of responsibility and without UN Security Council sanction could destabilize the entire global strategic situation. The growing technical advantage of a number of leading powers and their enhanced ability to create new weapons and military equipment could provoke a new phase of the arms race and radically alter the forms and methods of warfare.

Foreign special services and the organizations they use are increasing their activity in the Russian Federation.

Adverse trends in the military sphere are being assisted by delays in reforming the military and the defence industry of the Russian Federation, by inadequate funding for defence and by a poor regulatory and legal framework. At the present time, this can be seen in the critically low level of operational and military training in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and of the other forces and military bodies and authorities, and in the impermissible drop in equipment of the forces with modern armaments and military and special hardware, and in the extreme acuteness of social problems; this leads to a weakening of the military security of the Russian Federation as a whole.

Threats to the national security and interests of the Russian Federation in the border sphere are caused by the following:

• economic, demographic and cultural-religious expansion by neighbouring states into Russian territory;
  
• increased activity by cross-border organized crime and also by foreign terrorist organizations.

The threat of a deteriorating environmental situation in the country and depletion of natural resources depends directly on the state of the economy and society's willingness to appreciate the global nature and importance of these issues. For Russia this threat is especially great because of the domination position in industry of the fuel and energy sector, inadequate legislation for environmental protection, lack or limited use of energy-saving technologies, and low environmental awareness. There is a trend for Russia to be used as a place for reprocessing and burying environmentally dangerous materials and substances.

Against this background the weakening of state supervision and inadequate legal and economic levers for averting and relieving emergencies are increasing the risk of man-made disasters in all sectors of the economy.

IV. Ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation

The following are the principal tasks for ensuring the Russian Federation's national security:

• to promptly detect and identify external and internal threats to national security;
  
• to take short- and long-term action to avert and remove internal and external threats;
  
• to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and the security of its border lands;
  
• to improve the economy and pursue an independent and socially-oriented economic policy;
  
• to overcome the Russian Federation's scientific and technological dependence on external sources;
  
• to ensure citizens' personal security and constitutional rights and freedoms in Russia;
  
• to improve the system of state power in the Russian Federation, the system of federal relations and local self-government and legislation; to create harmonious relations between communities, and to strengthen law and order and preserve socio-political stability in society;
  
• to ensure unwavering compliance with Russian Federation legislation by all citizens and officials, state bodies, political parties and public and religious organizations;
  
• to ensure Russia's cooperation, especially with the world's leading countries, on equal and mutually advantageous terms;
  
• to increase the state's military potential and maintaining it at a sufficient level;
  
• to strengthening the regime of nonproliferation of mass destruction weapons and their delivery vehicles;
  
• to take effective action to identify, avert and intercept intelligence and subversive activities by foreign states against the Russian Federation;
  
• to fundamentally improve the country's ecological situation.

It is an important priority of state policy to ensure national interests and uphold the country's economic interests.

The following are important tasks in foreign economic activities:

• to pave the way for international integration of the Russian economy;
  
• to expand markets for of Russian products;
  
• to create a single economic domain with the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Against a background of liberalization of Russia's foreign trade and increased competition on the global market for goods and services, there must be greater protection of the interests of Russian producers.

An important factor is a balanced monetary policy designed to gradually reduce Russia's dependence on external borrowing and to strengthen its presence in the international financial and economic organizations.

The state must play a stronger role in regulating foreign banking, insurance and investment companies and impose definitions and justified limitations on the transfer for use by foreign companies of Russia's natural resources, telecommunications, transport and production infrastructures.

Effective action must be taken in currency regulation, to pave the way for an end to payments in foreign currency on the domestic market and to end the uncontrolled export of capital.

The main directions for ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation in matters of the domestic economy are:

• legal support for reforms and creation of an effective mechanism for monitoring observance of Russian Federation legislation;
  
• strengthening state regulation in the economy;
  
• taking measures essential to overcoming the consequences of the economic crisis, and preserve and develop scientific, technological and production potential;
  
• effect a transition to economic growth with a diminished likelihood of man-made disasters, a transition to greater competitiveness of industrial products and to improved wellbeing of the people.

The transition to a highly effective, socially oriented market economy must be carried out as a gradual process of forming optimum mechanisms for organizing production and distribution of goods and services for maximum possible increase of the wellbeing of society and of every citizen.

The most pressing tasks in this respect are to remove structural distortions within the Russian economy, ensure high growth of output of high-technology products and products involving a high degree of processing, while supporting sectors which are the basis of expanded output and ensuring employment.

It is of great importance to strengthen state support for investment and innovation, act to create a stable banking system that meets the interests of the real economy, to assist business to obtain long-term loan finance for capital investments, provide real state support for special programmes for the structural reorganization of industry.

Vital tasks are to achieve rapid development of competitive sectors and industries and expand the market for science-intensive products. To this end, there must be encouragement for transfer of new military technologies to the civilian sector and a mechanism must be introduced for identifying and supporting advanced technologies which will ensure competitiveness of Russian enterprises in the world market.

This entails channelling financial and material resources into priority areas of development of science and engineering, supporting the leading scientific schools, and accelerated creation of a science and technology resource of completed research and a national technological base, attracting private capital including through the use of foundations and grants. It also entails programmes for developing territories with a high concentration of scientific and technological potential, establishing with state support an infrastructure ensuring commercial use of the results of scientific research, with simultaneous protection of intellectual property within the country and abroad, and developing a generally accessible network of scientific, technological and commercialinformation.

The state should promote the creation of equal development and expansion opportunities for businesses under all forms of ownership, including private enterprise in all areas, where this is beneficial to public wellbeing, scientific and educational progress, society's spiritual and moral development, and protection of consumer rights.

Ways of supporting the vital activities and economic development of regions and areas of the Far North that are especially subject to crises, and a tariff policy ensuring uniformity of the country's economic domain, must be developed in the shortest possible time.

The priority of economic factors in the social sphere is fundamentally important for strengthening the state, ensuring real implementation of social safeguards based on state support, and developing mechanisms for collective responsibility, democratic decision making, and social partnership. In this respect, a socially fair and economically effective income distribution policy is very important.

Organization of the work of federal executive authorities and of executive authorities of the constituent parts of the Russian Federation in implementing specific measures aimed at preventing and overcoming threats to Russia's national interests in the area of the economy also requires a further improvement of legislation and assurance of its strict observance by all economically active entities.

A convergence of interests of the peoples populating the country, organization of full and comprehensive cooperation between them, and conduct of a responsible, considered national and regional state policy are very important tasks, accomplishment of which will permit ensuring Russia's domestic political stability and unity. A comprehensive approach to accomplishing these tasks should be the basis of the state's domestic policy and should ensure development of the Russian Federation as a multinational, democratic, federal state.

Strengthening of Russian statehood and improved federal relationships and local self-government should promote the national security of the Russian Federation. A comprehensive approach is essential for resolving legal, economic, social and ethnopolitical issues while ensuring that the interests of the Russian Federation and its components are observed.

Implementing the constitutional principle of government by the people requires assurance of the coordinated functioning and interaction of all state authorities, an improvement in the organization and activities of representative entities, of strict hierarchy of executive authority, and unity of Russia's judicial system. This is ensured by the constitutional principle of division of powers, by establishment of a more precise functional distribution of powers among state institutions, and by the strengthening of Russia's federative system through improved relations with constituent parts of the Russian Federation within the framework of their constitutional status.

The following are the fundamental directions for protecting Russia's constitutional system:

• to ensure the priority of federal legislation and improve to this effect the legislation of constituent parts of the Russian Federation;
  
• to develop organizational and legal mechanisms for protecting the integrity of the state, and unity of the legal domain and Russia's national interests;
  
• to develop and implement a regional policy that ensures an optimum balance of federal and regional interests;
  
• to improve the mechanism for preventing the appearance of political parties and public associations that pursue separatist and anticonstitutional goals and for stopping their activities.

Efforts aimed at fighting crime and corruption require consolidation. It is very much in Russia's interests to uproot the economic and socio-political causes of these socially dangerous phenomena and to draw up a comprehensive system for protecting the individual, society and the state against criminality. The formation of a system of effective social preventive measures and education of law-abiding citizens is of a top priority task. These measures must be subordinated to the interests of protecting every person's right to personal security regardless of race, nationality, language, origin, property interests or official status, place of residence, religion, membership of public associations or other circumstances.

It is vital when fighting crime to:

• identify, eliminate and prevent causes and conditions engendering crime;
  
• strengthen the state's role as guarantor of security of the individual and society, and create the legal framework necessary for this and the mechanism for applying it;
  
• enlist state authorities, within the bounds of their authority, in the prevention of illegal actions;
  
• expand mutually-beneficial international collaboration in law and order, primarily with the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Decisions made and steps taken by state authorities in the fight against organized crime must be open, specific, and understandable to every citizen, they must be preventive in nature, they must ensure equality of all before the law and inevitability of liability, and they must rely on society's support.

The development of a legal base as the foundation for reliably protecting citizens' rights and lawful interests, as well as observance of Russia's obligations under international law in the sphere of fighting crime and protecting human rights are needed first and foremost for preventive measures and for crime-fighting. It is important to deprive crime of the sustenance it derives from shortcomings in legislation and the economic and social crisis.

An effective system for financial control, enhanced administrative, civic and legal levers and ways of verifying the assets and sources of income and expenditures of state officials and other employees must be created to prevent corruption in the state apparatus and to eliminate conditions for legalizing criminally acquired capital.

The fight against terrorism, the drug trade and smuggling must be based on a special state-wide set of countermeasures designed to put an end to such activities.

Using the framework of international agreements, there must be effective collaboration with foreign states and their law-enforcement and special agencies, and also with international organizations tasked with fighting terrorism. Broad use must be made of international experience of dealing with this phenomenon and there must be a well-coordinated mechanism for countering international terrorism, closing all available routes for illicit weapons and explosives within the country and preventing their import from abroad.

The federal state authorities should pursue within the country persons involved in terrorism irrespective of where acts of terrorism damaging to the Russian Federation were conceived or carried out.

Assurance of the Russian Federation's national security also includes protecting the cultural and spiritual-moral legacy and the historical traditions and standards of public life, and preserving the cultural heritage of all Russia's peoples. There must be a state policy to maintain the population's spiritual and moral welfare, prohibit the use of airtime to promote violence or base instincts, and counter the adverse impact of foreign religious organizations and missionaries.

A spiritual renewal of society is impossible without preserving the role of the Russian language as a factor of spiritual unity of the people of a multinational Russia and as the language of intercourse among CIS member states.

To ensure the safekeeping and development of our cultural and spiritual heritage, socioeconomic conditions must be created to promote creativity and cultural institutions.

In the area of protecting and strengthening citizens' health there must be greater attention paid by society and by Russian Federation legislative (representative) and executive authorities toward the development of state (federal and municipal) insurance and private healthcare, state protectionism for the Russian medical and pharmaceutical industry, and implementation of federal programmes in preventive medicine and epidemiology, children's health protection, ambulance and emergency medical care, and disaster medicine.

The following are among priority directions for ensuring ecological security:

• rational use of natural resources and fostering of environmental awareness
  
• prevention of environmental pollution by raising the level of safety of technologies connected with the burial and recycling of toxic industrial and household wastes;
  
• prevention of radioactive contamination of the environment and relief of the consequences of earlier radiation accidents and disasters;
  
• ecologically safe storage and reprocessing of arms removed from the order of battle, above all nuclear powered submarines, ships and vessels with nuclear power plants, nuclear munitions, liquid rocket propellants, and fuel of nuclear power stations;
  
• storage and destruction of chemical weapon stockpiles in a way that is environmentally safe and safe for public health;
  
• creation of ecologically clean technologies, a search for ways of making practical use of environmentally friendly sources of energy, and urgent action in environmentally-vulnerable areas of the Russian Federation.

A new approach is essential for the organization and conduct of civil defence in the Russian Federation and there must be a qualitative improvement to the unified state system for early warning and removal of emergency situations, including its further integration into equivalent systems of foreign countries.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation should be designed to:

• pursue an active foreign-policy course;
  
• strengthen key mechanisms, above all of the UN Security Council, for multilateral management of world political and economic processes;
  
• ensure favourable conditions for the country's economic and social development and for global and regional stability;
  
• protect the lawful rights and interests of Russian citizens abroad, through the use of political, economic and other measures;
  
• develop relations with CIS member states in accordance with principles of international law, and developing integrative processes within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States that meet Russia's interests;
  
• ensure Russia's full-fledged involvement in global and regional economic and political structures;
  
• assist in settling conflicts, including peacekeeping activities under UN, OSCE and CIS aegis;
  
• achieve progress in nuclear arms control and maintain strategic stability in the world through states' compliance with their international obligations in this respect;
  
• fulfil mutual obligations to reduce and eliminate weapons of mass destruction and conventional arms, carrying out confidence- and stability-building measures, ensure international supervision of the export of goods and technologies and over the provision of military and dual-purpose services;
  
• adapt existing arms-control and disarmament agreements in line with the new climate in international relations, and also develop when necessary new agreements especially for enhancing confidence- and security-building measures;
  
• assist in establishing zones free of weapons of mass destruction;
  
• develop international cooperation in the fight against transnational crime and terrorism.

Ensuring the Russian Federation's military security is a crucial direction of state activity. The main goal in this respect is to ensure an adequate response to threats which may arise in the 21st century, with rational spending on defence.

In preventing war and armed conflicts, the Russian Federation prefers political, diplomatic, economic and other non-military means. The national interests of the Russian Federation, however, require the presence of military power sufficient for its defence. The Russian Federation armed forces play the main role in ensuring the military security of the Russian Federation.

A vital task of the Russian Federation is to exercise deterrence to prevent aggression on any scale and nuclear or otherwise, against Russia and its allies.

The Russian Federation should possess nuclear forces that are capable of guaranteeing the infliction of the desired extent of damage against any aggressor state or coalition of states in any conditions and circumstances.

In their peacetime order of battle the Russian Federation armed forces should be able to provide dependable protection against aerial attack; to perform jointly with other troops, military units and entities missions to repulse aggression in a local war (armed conflict); and to carry out strategic deployments for missions in a large-scale war. The Russian Federation armed forces should also ensure Russia's ability to carry out peacekeeping duties.

One of the vital strategic directions in providing for the Russian Federation's military security is effective collaboration and cooperation with members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The interests of ensuring Russia's national security predetermine the need, under appropriate circumstances, for Russia to have a military presence in certain strategically important regions of the world. The stationing of limited military contingents (military bases, naval units) there on a treaty basis must ensure Russia's readiness to fulfil its obligations and to assist in forming a stable military-strategic balance of forces in regions, and must enable the Russian Federation to react to a crisis situation in its initial stage and achieve its foreign-policy goals.

The Russian Federation considers the possibility of employing military force to ensure its national security based on the following principles:

• use of all available forces and assets, including nuclear, in the event of need to repulse armed aggression, if all other measures of resolving the crisis situation have been exhausted and have proven ineffective;
  
• use of military force inside the country is allowed in strict conformity with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and with federal laws in the event of emergence of a threat to citizens' lives and also of violent change to the constitutional system.

An important role in ensuring Russia's national interests belongs to the defence industry. Restructuring and conversion of the defence industry should proceed without detriment to the development of new technologies and science-and-technology opportunities or to modernization of armaments, military and special equipment and the presence of Russian manufacturers on the world markets.

The way should be paved for organization of the priority fundamental, forecasting and original research, which ensure the existence of a promising and advanced science-and-technology sector in the interests of defence and the state's security.

The following are principal tasks as regards border security:

• to establish the required regulatory and legal framework;
  
• to develop international cooperation in this area;
  
• to counter economic, demographic and cultural-religious expansion into Russian territory by other states;
  
• to intercept transnational organized crime and illegal migration;
  
• to engage in collective measures to ensure security in the border zones of member-states of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The following are crucial tasks for ensuring the Russian Federation's information security:

• exercise of citizens' constitutional rights and freedoms in the sphere of information;
  
• improvement and protection of the domestic information infrastructure and integration of Russia into the world information domain;
  
• countering the threat of opposition in the information sphere.

The use of intelligence and counterintelligence resources for the timely discovery of threats and identification of their sources is of particular importance when ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation.

The system for ensuring the Russian Federation's national security is created and developed in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, Russian Federation presidential decrees and directives, Russian Federation government decrees and resolutions, and federal programmes in this area.

The basis of the system for ensuring the Russian Federation's national security consists of the agencies and resources for ensuring national security that carry out political, legal, organizational, economic, military and other measures aimed at ensuring the security of the individual, society and the state.

The powers, composition, principles and operating procedure of the agencies and forces ensuring the Russian Federation's national security are defined in the relevant Russian Federation legislative instruments.

The following are involved in forming and implementing policy for ensuring the Russian Federation's national security:

• the president of the Russian Federation, who within the bounds of his constitutional powers directs the agencies and resources for ensuring the Russian Federation's national security; sanctions actions to ensure national security; in accordance with Russian Federation legislation forms, reorganizes and abolishes subordinate agencies and forces for ensuring national security; issues messages, appeals and directives on national security issues and in his annual message to the Russian Federation Federal Assembly specifies individual provisions of the Russian Federation National Security Blueprint and defines the directions of the country's current domestic and foreign policy;
  
• the Russian Federation Federal Assembly, which on the basis of the Russian Federation constitution and on representation by the Russian Federation president and government forms the legislative framework for ensuring the state's national security;
  
• the Russian Federation government, which within the bounds of its powers and in consideration of priorities in the area of ensuring the country's national security formulated in annual messages of the president to the Federal Assembly, coordinates the activities of federal executive authorities as well as of executive authorities of the constituent parts of the Russian Federation, and forms items of the federal budget for implementing specific special-purpose programmes in these areas;
  
• the Russian Federation Security Council, which works for the advance identification and assessment of threats to national security, drafts operational decisions to prevent them for the president; develops proposals for ensuring the country's national security and proposals on updating individual provisions of the Russian Federation National Security Blueprint; coordinates the forces and agencies for ensuring national security; and monitors implementation of decisions in this area by federal executive authorities and authorities of the constituent parts of the Russian Federation;
  
• federal executive authorities, which ensure compliance with Russian Federation legislation and implementation of decisions of the Russian Federation president and government in the area of national security; within the bounds of their competence develop regulatory legal instruments in this area and submit them to the Russian Federation president and government;
  
• executive authorities of the constituent parts of the Russian Federation, which coordinate with federal executive authorities in implementing Russian Federation legislation and decisions of the Russian Federation president and government in national security, and implementing federal programmes, plans and directives issued by the Supreme Commander in the area of Russian Federation defence security; with institutions of local government act to involve citizens, public associations and other organizations in helping to resolve national security problems in accordance with Russian Federation legislation; make proposals to federal executive authorities for upgrading the system of ensuring national security.

 * *

The Russian Federation intends to decisively and firmly uphold its national interests. The existing legal democratic institutions and structure of Russian Federation state authorities and the broad involvement of political parties and public associations in implementing the Russian Federation National Security Blueprint serve as a guarantee of Russia's dynamic development in the 21st century.