Introduction

Civil society –
basis of Russia’s
development

Today, our country, like the entire world community, has entered an era of dramatic changes and major historical developments that are irreversibly changing the foundations of the post-World War II geopolitical order.

Needless to say that this year we have eyewitnessed how global turbulence is affecting more and more countries, gaining momentum, leading to the breakdown of established ties and methods of interstate interactions, increasing uncertainty and intensifying geopolitical confrontation.

A dramatic shift in the foreign policy situation has placed on the agenda the introduction of new approaches to strategic planning, which entailed the revision of a number of key regulations that influence the development of the country, set planning horizons for the implementation of foreign and domestic government policy, and documents that shaping the image of the collective future of Russia.

The implementation of these fundamental changes commenced following the Address of the President of Russia to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on January 15, 2020. Asserting the need to solve the large-scale social, economic and technological challenges our country is being faced with, he noted a clear demand for changes in our society.

The President of Russia put forward a suggestion of a number of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, aimed at the further development of the country through a nationwide vote.

The active involvement of civil society in discussions and drafting out amendments to the Constitution followed by the constitutional referendum became the guarantee to a national consensus on the updated Basic Law of the country.

The foreign policy situation unfolding in 2022– 2023 required the review and reassessment of a key document that not only determines foreign policy, but also capturing changes in the system of global priorities in the country’s development. On March 31, 2023, this most important turn, which actually represents the country’s civilizational choice, was constituted in the new “Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation”, approved by the Executive Order of the President of Russia. The new concept consolidated at the doctrinal level the definition of Russia as a “distinctive country- civilization”.¹

The idea of a country-civilization as a special multiethnic community, bound by a common historical destiny, was announced at a high political level for the first time in the message of the President of Russia to the Federal Assembly in 2012.² Having the “country-civilization” term included in the strategic document defining the key vectors, directions and tasks of foreign policy it shows that today Russia by declaring its self-sufficiency and sovereignty is entering a new stage in its centuries-old history. And now the country is eagerly searching for its own unique path of existence and building a new strategy for its development, taking into account largely unavoidable objective factors and difficulties.

Enacted amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation have paved the legal way for further changes of over 50 key strategic planning documents that embrace the new challenges and tasks that our country has faced over the past three years.

Namely:

• “On the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation” (Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation No. 400 dated July 2, 2021);
• “On Approval of the Strategy for the Socioeconomic Development of the Russian Federation with Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions until 2050” (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 3052-р dated October 29, 2021);
• “On Approval of the Concept for the Development of Creative Industries and Mechanisms for the Implementation of their State Support in Large and the Largest Urban Agglomerations until 2030” (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2613-р dated September 20, 2021);
• “On approval of the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Strategic Planning in the Russian Federation” (Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation No. 633 dated November 8, 2021);
• “On approval of the Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation” (Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation No. 512 dated July 31, 2022);
• “On Approval of the Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values” (Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation No. 809 dated November 9, 2022);
• “On approval of the Strategy for the Development of the Financial Market of the Russian Federation until 2030” (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 4355-р dated December 29, 2022); and
• “On the Comprehensive Child Safety Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2030” (Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation No. 358 dated May 17, 2023).

The events of recent years in the development of civil society of our country – where the Civic Chamber is directly involved as one of its key institutions – reveal that today our country-civilization is in a situation where civil society is becoming no less important than the state itself.

A prime example of that is the joint work of society and the state to integrate the new regions into a single economic, legal, educational and cultural space.

The time in which we all live is perpetually posing new challenges for the state, and the answer to them will require the unification of all forces, all resources – namely, social, public, intellectual, and expert.

And for sure, to overcome these historical challenges in the near future, the civil society, as the basis of the country’s civilizational sovereignty, will certainly play its decisive role.