Russia's National Security Strategy Lead in 1. What Is Meant by the Term National Security? Read the Variety of Definitions An
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Russia’s National Security Strategy Lead in 1. What is meant by the term national security? Read the variety of definitions and decide which of them is the most comprehensive and precise. 1. The protection or the safety of a country’s secrets and its citizens. 2. National security objectively means the absence of threats to acquired values and subjectively, the absence of fear that such values will be attacked. 3 National security is an appropriate and aggressive blend of political resilience and maturity, human resources, economic structure and capacity, technological competence, industrial base and availability of natural resources and finally the military might. 4. National security then is the ability to preserve the nation's physical integrity and territory; to maintain its economic relations with the rest of the world on reasonable terms; to preserve its nature, institution, and governance from disruption from outside; and to control its borders. 5. National security ... is best described as a capacity to control those domestic and foreign conditions that the public opinion of a given community believes necessary to enjoy its own self-determination or autonomy, prosperity and wellbeing. 2. Why is providing national security essential for any state? 3. What aspects of social life does national security cover? National Security Economic Socio-Political Security Military Environmental Security Security Security Foreign External Information Security EconomicSecurity External Component of National Security 1 Text 1 Russia’s National Security Strategy 02.01.2016 On the very last day of 2015, President Putin signed Russia’s National Security Strategy for 2016, updating the existing strategic planning document, which established the country’s national priorities until 2020. The Strategy is a key strategic planning document that establishes the national interests and strategic national priorities of the Russian Federation, and home and foreign policy goals, targets and measures directed at strengthening national security and ensuring the country’s stable long-term development. The National Security Strategy until 2020, which was approved by the president back in 2009, was a rather short list of priorities and apparently needed an update due to the changing environment Russia has found itself in. Here are the major points of the new edition. Russia in the Modern World The document acknowledges that the strengthening of Russia, its independent foreign and internal policy prompts the US and its allies to initiate counteraction, as they are striving to maintain their dominant position in the world. Thus they pursue a policy of constrain of Russia, which envisages exerting political, economic, military and information pressure. Therefore, Russia’s national priority is consolidating its position as one of the leading world powers. The country’s long-term national interests are: consolidating the Russian Federation’s status as one of the leading world powers, whose actions are aimed at ensuring strategic stability and mutually beneficial partnerships in the context of a multi-polar world. When it comes to national priorities, it emphasizes strengthening the country’s defenses protecting its constitutional system, sovereignty and territorial integrity, strengthening the national consensus, raising the quality of life, preserving and developing culture, improving economic competitiveness, and other principles of national security. Strategic tasks include ensuring food security through “ensuring Russia’s food independence”. In addition, the document calls for the accelerated development of Russia’s agriculture, increasing the effectiveness of government support for agribusiness, preventing the uncontrolled traffic of GMO foods, and also training highly prepared specialists for the agricultural sector. Forming a New Polycentric World Order The process of forming a new polycentric world order is accompanied by a rise in global and regional instability. Conflicts are escalating due to the uneven global development and the growing differences between various countries’ levels of well-being, the struggle over resources and market access, [and] control over trade routes. Competition between states is being extended to values and societal development models, human, technological, and scientific potential. 2 The struggle for influence in the international arena involves the whole range of political, financial/economic, and information instruments. The potential of secret services is being utilized more actively. Role of Force, Relations with NATO and Block Approach The document acknowledges that the role of force continues to dominate in the international relationship. The strive to increase and modernize the offensive weapons only weakens the global security system and the system of international treaties and agreements on arms control. The principles of equal and indivisible security are not being observed in the Euro-Atlantic, Eurasian and Asia-Pacific regions. The expansion of NATO and its approach to Russia’s borders has created a threat to national security. Expanding the force potential of NATO and endowing it with global functions which are implemented in violation of international legal norms, the block’s military activation, its continued expansion, and the approach of its military infrastructure to Russian borders, all create a threat to national security. The still-evident block approach to resolving international problems is not facilitating their response to a whole range of challenges and threats. The growth of migration from Africa and the Middle East to Europe has revealed the bankruptcy of the regional system of security in the Euro-Atlantic region that was built on the basis of NATO and the EU. The instigation of “color revolutions” is one of the main threats to Russia’s security. The regions neighboring Russia are characterized by growing militarization and arms race. The most important threats to Russia’s state and societal security are “the activity of radical societal groups and organizations which are using nationalist and extremist religious ideology, of foreign and international NGOs and financial and economic organizations, as well as private individuals, aimed at undermining the unity and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, destabilizing the political and social situation inside the country, including through inspiring ‘color revolutions’ and destroying traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.” The document notes that the practice of overthrowing legitimate political authorities is becoming more widespread. The practice of overthrowing legitimate political authorities, provoking internal instability and conflict, is becoming more widespread. In addition to the still-existing areas of instability in the Middle and Far East, in Africa, South Asia, and the Korean Peninsula, new “hot spots” have appeared and the territory not controlled by any government authority has expanded. The US Military-Biological Lab Network The document states that the US is expanding its network of military- biological laboratories on the territory of countries neighboring Russia. The world still faces a high risk of proliferation and use of chemical weapons, and also the uncertainty as to which foreign countries have biological weaponry or the means to develop and produce it. 3 There is also the danger that the number of nuclear weapons states will increase. Politically unstable countries run a high risk of seeing conventional weapons fall into terrorist hands, and the “physical protection of dangerous objects and materials” is in a critical state. US and EU support for the anti-constitutional coup d’etat in Ukraine led to a deep schism in the Ukrainian society and an armed conflict. The document notes that the West’s effort to counter the integration processes and to create hot spots in the Eurasian region is having a negative influence on Russia’s pursuit of its national interests. The document emphasizes that the consolidation of an extreme right nationalist ideology, the deliberate effort to create a public image of Russia as an enemy is turning Ukraine into a long-term source of European instability located right next to Russia’s borders. 1. Answer the following questions. 1. What kind of document is the Strategy of 2015? 2. How does the document describe Russia? 3. Why is consolidating Russia’s position as one of the leading world powers so important for the state? 4. How is it possible to ensure food security? 5. Why are conflicts escalating? 6. What is the significance of force for the state security? 2. Translate the following word combination from English into Russian. 1. to establish national interests 2. the country’s stable long-term development 3. changing environment 4. to strive to maintain the dominant position in the world 5. ensuring Russia’s food independence 6. to escalate conflicts 7. to dominate in the international relationship 8. the still evident block approach 9. aimed at undermining the unity and territorial integrity 10. physical protection of dangerous objects and materials 3. Find in the text English equivalents to the following Russian word combinations. 1. территориальная целостность 2. предусматривать внешнеполитическое давление 3. обеспечить взаимовыгодное партнерство 4. укрепление национального согласия 5. ускоренное развитие 6. региональная нестабильность 7. ослабить глобальную (всеобщую) систему безопасности 4 8. нарушение международно-правовых норм 9. подстрекательство к совершению