The Theoretical Approaches to Defining the Essence of the Concept of «National Security» and Its Components
Authors:   Research Centre for Industrial Problems of Development of NAS of Ukraine, Khaustova Viktoriia Ye. , Trushkina Nataliia V. ,   Research Centre for Industrial Problems of Development of NAS of Ukraine
Published: February 2025

In recent decades, the concept of security has occupied a special place concerning life processes and various spheres of the economy of the countries of the world. This issue has become extremely acute in the current conditions of Ukraine’s development. In this regard, the problematic issue of ensuring national security, the development of a systemic State policy for the protection of national interests, national strategies and appropriate mechanisms for their implementation is extremely relevant. Along with this, it should be noted that an important role in the formation of an efficient system for ensuring national security is played by the timely development and enactment of fundamentally new conceptual and regulatory documents. The conception of the State policy for ensuring national security in Ukraine should be comprehensive, take into account both the impact and possible negative consequences of exogenous threats and hazards, contain strategic measures to determent or eliminate them, handle risks and protect critical infrastructure facilities. The implementation of this conceptual document will create conditions and the aptitude to flexibly respond to real and potential threats to the national security of the State, adapt to changes in the international security environment. With this in mind, the aim of the present study is to generalize and systematize the theoretical approaches to the definition of the concept of «national security»; clarification of the essence, content and structure of national security, taking into account the peculiarities of martial law in Ukraine and the conditions of the post-war period. As a result of the study, it is found that the concept of «national security» is identified with such definitions as State security, military security, national defense of the country, defense capability of the State, national interests, national values, State security, security of society. Using content analysis and system approach, the existing interpretations of the term «national security» are conditionally systematized according to such classification characteristics as: the ability to preserve territorial integrity; protection of State sovereignty; State security; security of society; security of citizens; protection of national interests and values; priority of the country’s development; integration of foreign and military policy; key element of the functioning of the State; hierarchical structure; system of interrelated elements; state of security of the country; category; development; quantitative and qualitative indicator; process; activities of the country. The article provides the authors’ approach to defining the category of «national security» as the level of protection of national interests and values of the State from real or potential threats that may arise due to armed conflicts, hostilities, cyberattacks, natural disasters, environmental and man-made disasters, demographic crisis. As a result of the study, it is proposed to consider national security from the standpoint of critical infrastructure protection, i. e.: 1) the ability and capability of a country to ensure the security, protection and stable development of the country’s critical infrastructure; 2) the state of the country, which will contribute to the creation of appropriate conditions for the stable and uninterrupted functioning of critical infrastructure facilities; 3) a high degree of security, at which safety, protection, resilience of critical infrastructure facilities to real and potential threats, hazards and risks, their flexible adaptation and adaptation to crisis situations are possible. The article builds a structural scheme of the main components of national security, which include State, legal, military, foreign policy, domestic politics, economic, financial, energy, food, public, social, demographic, personnel, information, cybernetic, environmental, technogenic security, security of the State border, security of society. The development of scientific research in the field of ensuring the national security of the country by analyzing publication activities using bibliometric analysis and VOSviewer software is considered, on the basis of which the features and determinants of the development of scientific research on the chosen topic are identified, and also new promising directions, in particular, regarding the development of a strategy for ensuring national security, taking into account the impact of various threats.