Russia's National Security Policy
Conceptions and Realities
Description:... This monograph deals with a topic of fundamental importance: how does a country identify its national interests and develop a strategy to pursue them. The author draws an interesting distinction between a National Security Strategy and a National Security Concept. He argues that the latter should encompass a broader range of issues, including society's consensus on such fundamental topics as the proper division of power among both the various branches of government and the diverse levels of federal authority. It also should contain a philosophical dimension relating to the country's past, present, and future role in international affairs. For this reason, several pages of his analysis discuss whether Russia has been undergoing evolution, reform, or a revolution. The manuscript highlights the difficulties that Russians have had in reaching a consensus about their country's proper role in the post-Cold War era. In this, they differ little from the citizens of the United States, the various states of Europe, or the other nations of the world. Since the Gorbachev years, international developments have not dealt kindly with the simple paradigms of how the world works. Politicians, scholars, and interested citizens will undoubtedly continue to grapple with the challenging issue of identifying and ranking national interests for many years to come. (Adapted from Publisher's Abstract).
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