Cross-border spaces in the perception of threats to Russia's National Security

Abstract

Changes in international relations and perceptions of national security are forcing individual States to expand the contours of their own security borders. It is not uncommon for these contours to go far beyond their own borders. The purpose of the study is to determine the nature of the perception of the transformation of cross-border spaces in the system of threats to Russia's national security. The main materials of the study were socio-political discourse, in particular individual speeches of the President of Russia, the national security strategy and other normative and doctrinal documents in the field of ensuring the security of the Russian Federation. The studied narratives and comparison of statements and reactions to individual regional transformations, compared with doctrinal documents in the field of national security, allowed us to identify trigger points. In particular, in comparison of the political changes in Afghanistan, Finland and Ukraine, it was revealed that it is the value transformation at the current moment in the vision of the Russian elite that is of the greatest concern, both regionally and politically and socially. The basis of the research methodology is a systematic approach, content analysis, and a comparative approach, which made it possible to identify the dominants in the current political discourse and determine the reason for the perception of the transformation of cross-border spaces by the Russian elite in a certain way. As a result, it is determined that the change of the value paradigm is perceived as something significantly more dangerous than a military threat, as well as the expansion of NATO to the east, which is by no means perceived as an equivalent threat. In addition, the Russian elite perceives the current international system as something unfair, due to the capabilities of Western states to influence areas lying near the borders of Russia. While Russia itself does not have the opportunity to broadcast its ideas and values on territories far from its borders. Changes in the value orientation of cross-border areas lying in the border of Russia are perceived by the elite at the moment as the main national threat to the country's security.