Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta (Jan 2017)
Call for a new national security strategy: governing the future instead of deterring it
Abstract
The article attempts to present a new vision for the strategic development of the Russian Federation. The authors note that the search for strategy should be made on the meta-level analysis in order to take into account either the military and political context of national security or the future interests of Russia. This allows one to reduce uncertainty in the strategic planning process. The author notes that the current military-political strategy of Russia is based on a fairly old idea of deterrence. This strategy is reactive in nature and involves responding to external challenges and threats in the international political environment. Meanwhile, the global political landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, in which a key aspect of national security will be a wide range of connectivity options to further political development of the state and society. Another disadvantage of deterrence strategy is that the threats are not differentiated from national interests and political goals. The author offers his version of the conceptualization of the terminology and the essential differences of different types of threats and assess the consequences of misunderstanding such differences. As for the strategy of deterrence, the authors suggest an alternative strategy of “control”, which aims at the formation of a systemic perspective directions of development of the society. A key element of this strategy is the forging and maintenance of the national human capital, which provides connectivity, adaptability and innovationability of various branches of the governance and dealing with external challenges. “Control” means an intensification strategy of the state policy in the field of science, culture, the promotion of spiritual development and production of advanced innovation.
