The Essence of National Interests: General Theoretical Aspect

Abstract

The paper analyzes approaches to understanding the essence of national interests of the modern Russian State in the context of general theoretical standings. Attention is drawn to the fact that legal science focuses only on the political or economic aspects of national interests. However, a general theoretical perspective of the essence and content of national interests remains in the background. For these purposes, the paper focuses on some scientific approaches to understanding national interests and describes certain essential characteristics and their features. In the authors’ view, the essence of national interests is manifested through the prism of studying their characteristics, which reflects the author’s understanding of the definition of national interests as a substantive element (along with threats) of the national security of the State. Characteristics of national interests include: connectivity with the interests of the State, social justice, dependance on the interests of the State and society, consistency and complexity, awareness and integration, as well as their dependence on the economic situation in the country and its spiritual and cultural sphere. Thus, the authors present their own definition of national interests.