Security environment of the state in the context of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine activities

Abstract

The article investigates the essence of the “security environment” concept, which has recently been used to define the goals and areas of the security and defence sector of Ukraine, and also identifies its structural elements. The term “security environment” is a combination of two concepts – “security” and “environment”. “Security” means the state of protection of vital interests of an individual, society and the state from external and internal threats, and “environment” means a set of certain conditions in which an individual, society or state exists. The concept of “security environment” in Ukrainian legislation and in the national scientific literature is mainly used in the field of military security and defence review. The concept of “security environment” (in the context of the existence of a state or a set of states) should be applied when referring to the set of conditions and factors of its existence that provide such a state with protection from internal and external threats. Based on the analysis of the Ukrainian researchers’ publications, as well as the works of foreign scholars, the author identifies the main types of security environments depending on the characteristics of threats to such environments: external and internal. The external security environment is associated with the elimination of external threats and mostly concerns the military and foreign policy spheres. The internal security environment is formed by minimising internal threats, some of which fall within the direct responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. The correlation of the term “security environment” with related categories, in particular, “national security”, “state security”, “internal security” has been determined. The concept of “national security” actually describes the desired overall state of the security environment of a particular country, which affects the regional or global security environment. The state of national security is actually a characteristic of the overall security environment of the state. It has been proved that the MIA of Ukraine is a subject of formation and development of the internal security environment of Ukraine. The security environment in the context of the MIA of Ukraine is a set of internal spheres of the country’s socio-political life in which the Ministry of Internal Affairs forms the State policy and exercises its powers as a security and defence sector entity with the aim of ensuring sustainable development of the State and protecting vital interests of a person and society.