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

I.Russia in the world community

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

The first of these trends shows itself in the strengthened economicand political positions of a significant number of states and their integrativeassociations and in improved mechanisms for multilateral management ofinternational 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 multipolarworld on this basis.

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

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

Russia is one of the world's major countries, with centuries of historyand rich cultural traditions. Despite the complex international situationand its own temporary difficulties, Russia continues to play an importantrole in global processes by virtue of its great economic, scientific, technologicaland military potential and its unique strategic location on the Eurasiancontinent.

There are prospects for the Russian Federation's broader integrationinto the world economy and for expanded cooperation with internationaleconomic and financial institutions. The commonality of interests of Russiaand other states is objectively preserved in many international securityproblems, including opposing the proliferation of mass destruction weapons,settling and preventing regional conflicts, fighting international terrorismand the drugs trade, and resolving acute ecological problems of a globalnature, including nuclear and radiation safety.

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

Terrorism is transnational in nature and poses a threat to world stability.This issue has exacerbated sharply in many countries, including in theRussian Federation, and to fight it requires unification of efforts bythe entire international community, increased effectiveness of existingways 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 interestsof 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 andshort-term goals of the state's domestic and foreign policy. The nationalinterests are secured by institutions of state authority, which may alsoact in coordination with public organizations operating on the basis ofthe constitution and legislation of the Russian Federation.

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

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

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

Russia's national interests may be assured only on the basis of sustainableeconomic development. Therefore Russia's national interests in economicsare of key importance.

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

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

The national interests in the spiritual sphere lie in preservation andstrengthening 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 upholdingits sovereignty and strengthening its position as a great power and asone of the influential centres of a multipolar world, in development ofequal and equitable relations with all countries and integrative associationsand in particular with the members of the Commonwealth of Independent Statesand Russia's traditional partners, in universal observance of human rightsand freedoms and the impermissibility of dual standards in this respect.

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

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

Russia's national interests in border policy lie in the establishmentof political, legal, organizational and other conditions for ensuring reliableprotection of the state border of the Russian Federation, and in observanceof the procedure and rules laid down by Russian Federation legislationfor the carrying on of economic and all other kinds of activity withinthe borders of the Russian Federation.

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

A vital component of Russia's national interests is protection of theindividual, society and state from terrorism, including international terrorism,and also from extraordinary situations, both natural and man-made, andtheir consequences, and in times of war from the dangers arising from theconduct 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 systemand structure of the authorities of state and of society, social and politicalpolarization of society and criminalization of social relations, the growthof organized crime and terrorism, and a deterioration in intercommunaland international relations are all creating a broad range of internaland external threats to the country's security.

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

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

Adverse trends in the economy lie at the root of the separatist aspirationsof a number of constituent parts of the Russian Federation. This leadsto increased political instability and a weakening of Russia's unifiedeconomic 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 spiritualvalues promote tension between regions and the centre and pose a threatto the federal structure and the socioeconomic fabric of the Russian Federation.

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

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

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

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

The scale of terrorism and organized crime is growing because of theconflicts that frequently accompany changes of ownership and also an increasedstruggle for power along clan and ethnic or nationalist interests. Thelack of an effective system in society for preventing legal infringements,inadequate legal and logistic support for the battle against organizedcrime and terrorism, legal nihilism and the departure of qualified personnelfrom the law-enforcement agencies are all increasing the impact that thisthreat has on the individual, society and the state.

Stratification of society into a narrow circle of the rich and preponderantmass of the needy and increasing numbers of people below the poverty thresholdand growing unemployment pose a threat to Russia's security in the socialsphere.

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is an increased threat to the national security of the RussianFederation in the information sphere. A serious danger arises from thedesire of a number of countries to dominate the global information domainspace 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 onother countries' information systems, of disrupting information and telecommunicationssystems and data storage systems, and of gaining unauthorized access tothem.

The level and scope of the military threat are growing.

Elevated to the rank of strategic doctrine, NATO's transition to thepractice of using military force outside its zone of responsibility andwithout UN Security Council sanction could destabilize the entire globalstrategic situation. The growing technical advantage of a number of leadingpowers and their enhanced ability to create new weapons and military equipmentcould provoke a new phase of the arms race and radically alter the formsand methods of warfare.

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

Adverse trends in the military sphere are being assisted by delays inreforming 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 operationaland military training in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation andof the other forces and military bodies and authorities, and in the impermissibledrop in equipment of the forces with modern armaments and military andspecial hardware, and in the extreme acuteness of social problems; thisleads to a weakening of the military security of the Russian Federationas a whole.

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

• economic, demographic and cultural-religious expansion by neighbouringstates into Russian territory;
• increased activity by cross-border organized crime and also by foreignterrorist organizations.

Against this background the weakening of state supervision and inadequatelegal and economic levers for averting and relieving emergencies are increasingthe 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'snational security:

• to promptly detect and identify external and internal threats to nationalsecurity;
• to take short- and long-term action to avert and remove internal and externalthreats;
• to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federationand the security of its border lands;
• to improve the economy and pursue an independent and socially-orientedeconomic policy;
• to overcome the Russian Federation's scientific and technological dependenceon external sources;
• to ensure citizens' personal security and constitutional rights and freedomsin Russia;
• to improve the system of state power in the Russian Federation, the systemof federal relations and local self-government and legislation; to createharmonious relations between communities, and to strengthen law and orderand preserve socio-political stability in society;
• to ensure unwavering compliance with Russian Federation legislation byall citizens and officials, state bodies, political parties and publicand 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 sufficientlevel;
• to strengthening the regime of nonproliferation of mass destruction weaponsand their delivery vehicles;
• to take effective action to identify, avert and intercept intelligenceand subversive activities by foreign states against the Russian Federation;
• to fundamentally improve the country's ecological situation.

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 Commonwealthof Independent States.

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

The state must play a stronger role in regulating foreign banking, insuranceand investment companies and impose definitions and justified limitationson 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 wayfor an end to payments in foreign currency on the domestic market and toend the uncontrolled export of capital.

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

• legal support for reforms and creation of an effective mechanism for monitoringobservance of Russian Federation legislation;
• strengthening state regulation in the economy;
• taking measures essential to overcoming the consequences of the economiccrisis, and preserve and develop scientific, technological and productionpotential;
• effect a transition to economic growth with a diminished likelihood ofman-made disasters, a transition to greater competitiveness of industrialproducts and to improved wellbeing of the people.

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

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

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

This entails channelling financial and material resources into priorityareas of development of science and engineering, supporting the leadingscientific schools, and accelerated creation of a science and technologyresource of completed research and a national technological base, attractingprivate capital including through the use of foundations and grants. Italso entails programmes for developing territories with a high concentrationof scientific and technological potential, establishing with state supportan infrastructure ensuring commercial use of the results of scientificresearch, with simultaneous protection of intellectual property withinthe country and abroad, and developing a generally accessible network ofscientific, technological and commercialinformation.

The state should promote the creation of equal development and expansionopportunities for businesses under all forms of ownership, including privateenterprise 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 ofregions 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 fundamentallyimportant for strengthening the state, ensuring real implementation ofsocial safeguards based on state support, and developing mechanisms forcollective responsibility, democratic decision making, and social partnership.In this respect, a socially fair and economically effective income distributionpolicy is very important.

Organization of the work of federal executive authorities and of executiveauthorities of the constituent parts of the Russian Federation in implementingspecific measures aimed at preventing and overcoming threats to Russia'snational interests in the area of the economy also requires a further improvementof legislation and assurance of its strict observance by all economicallyactive entities.

A convergence of interests of the peoples populating the country, organizationof 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 politicalstability and unity. A comprehensive approach to accomplishing these tasksshould be the basis of the state's domestic policy and should ensure developmentof the Russian Federation as a multinational, democratic, federal state.

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

Implementing the constitutional principle of government by the peoplerequires assurance of the coordinated functioning and interaction of allstate authorities, an improvement in the organization and activities ofrepresentative entities, of strict hierarchy of executive authority, andunity of Russia's judicial system. This is ensured by the constitutionalprinciple of division of powers, by establishment of a more precise functionaldistribution of powers among state institutions, and by the strengtheningof Russia's federative system through improved relations with constituentparts of the Russian Federation within the framework of their constitutionalstatus.

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

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

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 individualand society, and create the legal framework necessary for this and themechanism for applying it;
• enlist state authorities, within the bounds of their authority, in theprevention of illegal actions;
• expand mutually-beneficial international collaboration in law and order,primarily with the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The development of a legal base as the foundation for reliably protectingcitizens' rights and lawful interests, as well as observance of Russia'sobligations under international law in the sphere of fighting crime andprotecting human rights are needed first and foremost for preventive measuresand for crime-fighting. It is important to deprive crime of the sustenanceit derives from shortcomings in legislation and the economic and socialcrisis.

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

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

Using the framework of international agreements, there must be effectivecollaboration with foreign states and their law-enforcement and specialagencies, and also with international organizations tasked with fightingterrorism. Broad use must be made of international experience of dealingwith this phenomenon and there must be a well-coordinated mechanism forcountering international terrorism, closing all available routes for illicitweapons and explosives within the country and preventing their import fromabroad.

The federal state authorities should pursue within the country personsinvolved in terrorism irrespective of where acts of terrorism damagingto the Russian Federation were conceived or carried out.

Assurance of the Russian Federation's national security also includesprotecting the cultural and spiritual-moral legacy and the historical traditionsand standards of public life, and preserving the cultural heritage of allRussia's peoples. There must be a state policy to maintain the population'sspiritual and moral welfare, prohibit the use of airtime to promote violenceor base instincts, and counter the adverse impact of foreign religiousorganizations and missionaries.

A spiritual renewal of society is impossible without preserving therole of the Russian language as a factor of spiritual unity of the peopleof a multinational Russia and as the language of intercourse among CISmember states.

To ensure the safekeeping and development of our cultural and spiritualheritage, socioeconomic conditions must be created to promote creativityand cultural institutions.

In the area of protecting and strengthening citizens' health there mustbe 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 protectionismfor the Russian medical and pharmaceutical industry, and implementationof federal programmes in preventive medicine and epidemiology, children'shealth protection, ambulance and emergency medical care, and disaster medicine.

The following are among priority directions for ensuring ecologicalsecurity:

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

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 multilateralmanagement of world political and economic processes;
• ensure favourable conditions for the country's economic and social developmentand for global and regional stability;
• protect the lawful rights and interests of Russian citizens abroad, throughthe use of political, economic and other measures;
• develop relations with CIS member states in accordance with principlesof international law, and developing integrative processes within the frameworkof the Commonwealth of Independent States that meet Russia's interests;
• ensure Russia's full-fledged involvement in global and regional economicand political structures;
• assist in settling conflicts, including peacekeeping activities under UN,OSCE and CIS aegis;
• achieve progress in nuclear arms control and maintain strategic stabilityin the world through states' compliance with their international obligationsin this respect;
• fulfil mutual obligations to reduce and eliminate weapons of mass destructionand conventional arms, carrying out confidence- and stability-buildingmeasures, ensure international supervision of the export of goods and technologiesand over the provision of military and dual-purpose services;
• adapt existing arms-control and disarmament agreements in line with thenew climate in international relations, and also develop when necessarynew agreements especially for enhancing confidence- and security-buildingmeasures;
• assist in establishing zones free of weapons of mass destruction;
• develop international cooperation in the fight against transnational crimeand terrorism.

In preventing war and armed conflicts, the Russian Federation preferspolitical, diplomatic, economic and other non-military means. The nationalinterests of the Russian Federation, however, require the presence of militarypower sufficient for its defence. The Russian Federation armed forces playthe main role in ensuring the military security of the Russian Federation.

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

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

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

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

The interests of ensuring Russia's national security predetermine theneed, under appropriate circumstances, for Russia to have a military presencein certain strategically important regions of the world. The stationingof limited military contingents (military bases, naval units) there ona treaty basis must ensure Russia's readiness to fulfil its obligationsand to assist in forming a stable military-strategic balance of forcesin regions, and must enable the Russian Federation to react to a crisissituation in its initial stage and achieve its foreign-policy goals.

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

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

The way should be paved for organization of the priority fundamental,forecasting and original research, which ensure the existence of a promisingand advanced science-and-technology sector in the interests of defenceand 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 intoRussian territory by other states;
• to intercept transnational organized crime and illegal migration;
• to engage in collective measures to ensure security in the border zonesof member-states of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

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

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

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

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

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

• the president of the Russian Federation, who within the bounds of his constitutionalpowers directs the agencies and resources for ensuring the Russian Federation'snational security; sanctions actions to ensure national security; in accordancewith Russian Federation legislation forms, reorganizes and abolishes subordinateagencies and forces for ensuring national security; issues messages, appealsand directives on national security issues and in his annual message tothe Russian Federation Federal Assembly specifies individual provisionsof the Russian Federation National Security Blueprint and defines the directionsof the country's current domestic and foreign policy;
• the Russian Federation Federal Assembly, which on the basis of the RussianFederation constitution and on representation by the Russian Federationpresident and government forms the legislative framework for ensuring thestate's national security;
• the Russian Federation government, which within the bounds of its powersand in consideration of priorities in the area of ensuring the country'snational security formulated in annual messages of the president to theFederal Assembly, coordinates the activities of federal executive authoritiesas well as of executive authorities of the constituent parts of the RussianFederation, and forms items of the federal budget for implementing specificspecial-purpose programmes in these areas;
• the Russian Federation Security Council, which works for the advance identificationand assessment of threats to national security, drafts operational decisionsto prevent them for the president; develops proposals for ensuring thecountry's national security and proposals on updating individual provisionsof the Russian Federation National Security Blueprint; coordinates theforces and agencies for ensuring national security; and monitors implementationof decisions in this area by federal executive authorities and authoritiesof the constituent parts of the Russian Federation;
• federal executive authorities, which ensure compliance with Russian Federationlegislation and implementation of decisions of the Russian Federation presidentand government in the area of national security; within the bounds of theircompetence develop regulatory legal instruments in this area and submitthem 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 RussianFederation legislation and decisions of the Russian Federation presidentand government in national security, and implementing federal programmes,plans and directives issued by the Supreme Commander in the area of RussianFederation defence security; with institutions of local government actto involve citizens, public associations and other organizations in helpingto resolve national security problems in accordance with Russian Federationlegislation; make proposals to federal executive authorities for upgradingthe system of ensuring national security.

The Russian Federation intends to decisively and firmly uphold its nationalinterests. The existing legal democratic institutions and structure ofRussian Federation state authorities and the broad involvement of politicalparties and public associations in implementing the Russian FederationNational Security Blueprint serve as a guarantee of Russia's dynamic developmentin the 21st century.