Abstract

The role of national security system increases in the context of increasing geopolitical confrontation. Hostile actions against the state are of a complex nature. Destruction concerns the entire social system. Given the importance of information and scientific knowledge for a man, geopolitical adversaries increase confrontation in the spiritual and philosophical sphere. The subordination of the victim-state to the will of the aggressor is achieved through the destruction of the consciousness of individuals, society, the occupation of national information and mental spaces. This type of violence is a mental warfare. Ensuring the protection of the state from it is determined by mental security. The essence of mental warfare, the basic law, directions and principles of its conduct is revealed. It is emphasized that mental aggression as an extension of the policy of the subject of aggression is a form of non-classical war, where the main “target” is the civilizational, spiritual and philosophical component of the victim country. A definition of mental security is given, the main threats to it are actualized, and it is proposed that it be included in the humanitarian component of national security. It is important to form a mental culture of the individual and society, focusing the main efforts on the system of education and upbringing of young people. It is advisable to train specialists to conduct confrontation in the intellectual and semantic sphere. The mental war is transformed into a noosphere confrontation and acts as a kind of challenge to philosophical science, capable of forming a mental immunity. In the interests of state mental security it is necessary to strengthen the role of science, the system of education and upbringing, based on the culture of the nation. Only a highly intelligent and morally healthy society is able to resist the mental-political viruses and mental warfare operations, and thus systematically ensure the national security of the state mentally.