Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an Executive order to approve the updated Russian Federation National Security Strategy on December 31, 2015. The description via http://en.kremlin.ru/ regarding this document is "The Strategy is a key strategic planning document that establishes the national interests and strategic national priorities of the Russian Federation, and home and foreign policy goals, targets and measures directed at strengthening national security and ensuring the country’s stable long-term development."
As Reuters highlights, the changes in this national security strategy from the 2009 version, which was the last update, includes naming the United States of America as "one of the threats to Russia's national security for the first time."
The importance of that change cannot be overstated as relations between the U.S. and Russia continue to deteriorate.
Specific references to the U.S. include the threat of U.S. bio-weapon laboratories surrounding Russia and "Color Revolutions and the Practice of Overthrowing Legitimate Political Authorities."
Via Sputnik, which highlights those updated points:
The document states that the US is expanding its network of military-biological laboratories on the territory of countries neighboring Russia. The world still faces a high risk of proliferation and use of chemical weapons, "and also the uncertainty as to which foreign countries have biological weaponry or the means to develop and produce it."
[...]
“The practice of overthrowing legitimate political authorities, provoking internal instability and conflict, is becoming more widespread. In addition to the still-existing areas of instability in the Middle and Far East, in Africa, South Asia, and the Korean Peninsula, new “hot spots” have appeared and the territory not controlled by any government authority has expanded."
The specification of the Color Revolution is clearly another finger pointing directly at the U.S. as referenced in the point about Ukraine, which states "US and EU support for the anti-constitutional coup d’etat in Ukraine led to a deep schism in the Ukrainian society and an armed conflict."
Russia has also named NATO as a threat to Russian national security in the updated strategy, stating "The buildup of the military potential of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and vesting it with global functions implemented in violations of norms of international law, boosting military activity of the bloc’s countries, further expansion of the alliance, the approach of its military infrastructure to Russian borders create a threat to the national security."
Russia News Feed expands by showing what was listed under certain categories compared to what is now considered the strategy, where we can see by the language, Russia is dotting it's I's and crossing it's T's in preparation for a conflict that could lead to military action against national security threats.
In the old “Strategy” all the challenges and risks were identified correctly — the point of aggravation and conflict have not changed for decades. There is the Middle East, for example. It was assumed there would be military conflicts on Russia’s borders and within its areas of influence. The active military participation of Russia in solving these problems was not considered . Now it is quite the contrary:
It was:
“In the long term the Russian Federation will seek to build international relations on the principles of international law, ensuring reliable and equal security of States. To protect its national interests, Russia, while remaining within the framework of international law, will conduct a rational and pragmatic foreign policy that excludes costly confrontation, including a new arms race”.
The old “Strategy” of the UN was still seen as the guarantor of stability and observance of laws of international law. It was just the reality that the UN’s role in the turmoil in Ukraine and the fight against ISIL was negligible, to say the least…
Now:
“In the field of international security, Russia remains committed to the use of primarily political and legal tools and mechanisms of diplomacy and peacemaking. The use of military force to protect national interests is POSSIBLE (approx.ed.) if all the measures taken non-violent nature proved to be ineffective.”
South Front has covered additional areas the new strategy addresses which include the following categories; Consolidating Position, The Use of Military Force, Crisis Risk, Achieving Food Independence, Effective Fuel and Energy Industry Management, Foreign Policy, The Role of Special Services, Partnership with the US, NATO Expansion, Color Revolutions, The Schism in the Ukrainian Society, The US military-biological lab network and Nuclear Deterrence.
According to Radio Free Europe Radop Liberty "The new strategy document devotes nearly 20 sections to boosting the capabilities of Russia’s armed forces and state security more broadly."
BOTTOM LINE
With this updated strategy, Russia has just set the stage for military actions against those it considers a "national security threat" to Russia bringing us all one step closer to a world war.
The official complete text of the document is not yet known to be available.
