Adaptability – the ability of the state and society to withstand destructive influences and adapt to changes in the security environment due to the implementation of certain internal changes that allows the state and society to preserve integrity and continue fulfilling their functions.

Capabilities – a combination of all available resources, forces, and means of the state, society, community, or organization that determines their ability to efficiently respond to threats and crises at all crisis cycle phases, and adapt to the changing security environment.

Crisis – a state characterized by an extreme aggravation of contradictions, significant destabilization of the situation in any field of activity, region, or state, including a significant disruption of the functioning conditions of the main spheres of life of society and the state, that requires the adoption of a set of measures to stabilize the situation and restore the quality of life of the population, the conditions for the functioning of society and the state at a level not lower than the pre-crisis one. The onset of an emergency may be a prerequisite for the development of a crisis.

Global risk – an event that causes a significant negative impact on several countries and branches.

Hybrid threats – a type of threats to national security resulting from a synergistic effect of simultaneous use of conventional and unconventional methods of influence, which are often covert or disguised as other processes within the legal framework.

National resilience – the ability of a state and society to effectively counter threats of any origin and nature, adapt to rapid changes in the security environment, function continuously, including during crises, and quickly recover after crises to the optimal equilibrium under the reasonable conditions.

National resilience ensuring cycle – the sequence of actions of national resilience actors which allows to effectively counter threats of any origin and nature, adapt to changes in the security environment, and maintain continuous functioning of essential life spheres of the society and state before, during, and after a crisis in order to survive and develop.

National resilience ensuring mechanisms – sets of decisions and measures that determine a sequence of certain processes and actions that meet general aims and principles of the national resilience ensuring system`s functioning, and focus on achieving the established level and criteria of resilience by the state, society, and their individual components.

National resilience ensuring system – a comprehensive mechanism of interaction between public and local authorities, institutions, enterprises, NGOs, and people, as well as targeted actions, methods, factors, and mechanisms that safeguard the security and continuous functioning of key spheres of the society and state before, during, and after crises, including through adaptation to threats and rapid changes in the security environment.

National resilience actors (providers) – public and local authorities, enterprises, institutions, organizations, civil society structures, and citizens that initiate or participate in the national resilience providing processes.

National security – protection of national interests and national values from external and internal threats.

National security ensuring system – a combination of interacting national security actors, forces, facilities, methods, factors, and purposeful actions that guarantee preservation and strengthening of national values, protection and progressive development of national interests through timely detection, prevention, localization, neutralization, and overcoming of internal and external threats, as well as through providing the effective functioning of the national security system and its components.

Organizational resilience – the ability of an organization, institution, or enterprise to identify, prepare for, respond to threats, adapt to changes in the security environment, and function steady before, during, and after a crisis for the sake of survival and further development.

Readiness – the ability of a state and society to rapidly and properly respond to threats and crises.

Resilience – an ability of an object (a complex system) to adapt to the action of external stimuli without a significant loss of functionality and destruction of its structure.

Resilience in certain areas – the ability of the state and local authorities to identify threats characteristic to a certain area, prepare and respond to them in cooperation with enterprises, organizations, civil society structures, and population, and maintain continuous functioning of a certain area, development of corresponding capabilities and post-crisis recovery.

Risk – an effect of uncertainty on objectives (ISO, 2018a).

Threat – a potential cause of an unwanted incident, which could result in harm to individuals, assets, a system, or organization, the environment or the community (ISO, 2021).

Vulnerability – the presence of problems, defects, and deficiencies that cause or increase the susceptibility to disruption, systemic damage, and/or susceptibility to negative effects of risks and threats.

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The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany is a German-American partnership and trusted global network promoting common values and advancing collaborative geostrategic solutions. The Marshall Center’s mission to educate, engage, and empower security partners to collectively affect regional, transnational, and global challenges is achieved through programs designed to promote peaceful, whole of government approaches to address today’s most pressing security challenges. Since its creation in 1992, the Marshall Center’s alumni network has grown to include over 15,000 professionals from 157 countries. More information on the Marshall Center can be found online at www.marshallcenter.org.

This publication reflects the views of the authors and is not necessarily the official policy of the United States, Germany, or any other governments, or any other organization.