National Interests as the Trajectory of State Development

Abstract

The direction of development of the foreign and domestic policies of states is directly dependent on who and how determines and promotes their national interests in the current historical realities. Relations of intense rivalry, both open and latent attempts to change the unipolar world order that existed for the previous thirty years, the constant trend towards the escalation of interaction in the political and economic spheres of life, and the growing informational and ideological confrontation — have logically brought the planet back to the era of “big” wars. In such an international environment, any state that neglects military security and the desire for military parity jeopardizes the very fact of its existence. A rational and clear definition of the fundamental interests of the state, reflecting the needs and mental values of the maximum number of its citizens, is an integral component of conducting a policy aimed at the benefit and the well-being of the state, its growth, and its prosperity. Russia’s position in international interaction, its self-identification, and its choice of direction of development is of particular importance for the planet. This exclusivity is associated not only with the vast scale of the country’s territory and the significant number of its population, but also with the fact that the Russian Federation has one of the largest arsenals of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction.