GENERAL DIRECTION AND PRIORITIES OF ACTIVITIES OF NATIONAL SECURITY ENTITIES

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to elucidate the general direction and principal priorities underpinning the activities of entities responsible for ensuring national security. The “general direction” is understood as the set of strategic spheres intended to secure systemic stability in public life, as well as the state’s capacity to maintain an appropriate level of national security. Within these spheres, the essential conditions for preventing internal and external threats and risks are established, and the necessary resources are developed to meet the population’s vital needs, safeguard state sovereignty, and fulfil other national interests of Ukraine. The success of any specialised legal measures in this arena depends upon effective implementation of security efforts in the general direction. The general direction comprises social, economic, political, and informational components, each serving as a separate domain of national security, distinguished by its own specific priorities. Neglecting any one of these components may adversely affect other aspects of national security activities (including those addressed by the legal and specialised components) and undermine the overall security climate. Thus, ensuring an adequate level of social security lowers the likelihood of rising inequality, social exclusion, marginalisation, and fragmented political engagement among vulnerable groups, thereby diminishing social tensions and the potential for radicalisation within society. Consideration of economic factors, meanwhile, fosters the accumulation of resources for financing the security and defence sector, advancing critical infrastructure, operating the state reserves system effectively, supporting the social security apparatus, and diversifying national production. The political dimension bolsters the legitimacy of public authority and the enhancement of democratic procedures, which holds particular importance in the context of ongoing war and a proliferation of transnational threats. As for the informational sphere, “information wars” have been waged there for quite some time, impacting various facets of individual, societal, and state life, and demanding sustained vigilance and countermeasures. The article’s conclusions summarise these findings.