National consciousness as the most priority object of ensuring national security
Authors: Lemak O. V. 
Published: February 2025

The article is devoted to the analysis of the essence and content of national self-awareness as an object of ensuring national security. An analysis of the interpretation, relationship and interdependence of the concept’s «nation», «nationality», «national security», «self-awareness», «national self-awareness», «national self-identification», «ethnic self-identification», as well as their delimitation was carried out. The article deals with issues related to the factors that determine the relevance of the analysis of the content of this concept, its components and individual aspects related to the legal regulation of the protection of national self-awareness as a component of the process of ensuring national security.
The argument is supported that although the division into ethnic and political nations has become universally recognized, in the legal context under the conditions of democratic standards, even in an ethnic national state, the «titular» ethnic nation still turns into a component of the political nation.
It is suggested that ensuring national security is ensuring the security of all citizens of the country, not representatives of a certain nationality or national minority.
The position that the nation is a socio-political category that indicates the relationship of a people with a certain state and unites citizens of this state as certain elements is substantiated. In the concept of «national security», the nation is understood as the Ukrainian people, namely, the community of all citizens and stateless persons who currently live on the territory of the state and fall under its jurisdiction. National security is the security of everyone and every person living on the territory of Ukraine.
National self-awareness is defined as a continuous process of the nation asserting itself as a truly existing subject, a bearer of material and spiritual values through the awareness of belonging to a certain civil community, state, religion, language, traditions and culture.
The change in traditional perceptions of threats as caused by causes of mainly natural, man-made, social or military nature is analyzed. The latest methods of creating conflicts and crisis situations require an understanding of the nature of their occurrence on the basis of systemic analysis and risk assessment for the most important spheres of life of society and the state, in particular, economic, energy, information, cybernetic, ecological, food, health care, education and culture.
It is noted that the significant expansion of sources of access to information in the conditions of rapid development of digital technologies and at the same time an insufficient level of media literacy (media culture) is accompanied by a decrease in the criticality of information perception, creates the basis for possible manipulation of public opinion, which contributes to the growth of the influence of disinformation and destructive propaganda.
It is emphasized that today, among the current and projected threats to the national security and national interests of Ukraine, taking into account the foreign policy and internal conditions, national self-awareness (national idea) as an object of ensuring national security is under the greatest threat.
The purpose of the research was also to determine the essence of the objects of national security and stated that they are directly related to the method and nature of attacks on them.
It is argued that the objects of ensuring national security should be considered fundamental, vitally important for society and individuals, the basic values of the Ukrainian people as a nation, and national security as the protection of these vitally important interests and values of the Ukrainian people from real and potential threats.
It was concluded that the National Self-Consciousness is the most priority object of ensuring national security, therefore its status should be legislated at the level of the object of national security. The state is obliged to take a course for the revival of national self-awareness, the preservation and development of ancient traditions as the most important components of national identity.