A framework for a new social contract is being formed in Russia

The development of the foreign policy situation and the course of actions in the area of the special military operation indicate that the SMO is becoming protracted. This was emphasized by the President of the Russian Federation at the meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights (December 7, 2022) and at the expanded meeting of the Board of the RF Ministry of Defense (December 21, 2022). Therefore, the situation itself urges the Russian leadership and the entire ruling vertical to set goals and tasks aimed to comprehensively change the Russian society so that the country could achieve full national sovereignty and competitiveness in the 21st century. In this regard, many experts say that currently in Russia in the context of the SMO the prerequisites are being created for the formation of a new Social Contract, as well as new criteria for the coexistence and interaction of society and government, which will become relevant after all the goals of the special military operation have been achieved. In the article, we consider new features of civil society that are evolving into the outlines of a new Social Contract; factors that contribute to and hinder this process; conditions that need to be implemented in order for these still disparate contours to develop into concrete, real-life points of the Social Contract, supported by the majority of the population and determining the legitimacy of power at the new historical stage of Russia’s development.