The internal threats vs the external threats to Russia: the dynamics of public opinion

The article analyzes the perception in the public consciousness of the Russians, about main fears and threats of internal and external origins. The authors analyze the phenomenon of the radical change of public opinion influenced by the current domestic and international situation: the Ukrainian crisis, worsening of the relations between Russia, the USA and the West. The authors fix the formation of the defensive ideas among many Russian citizens as well as the rise of the readiness to "exchange" some civil rights and liberties for safety. At the same time the authors emphasize the relevance of the internal threats to the country, caused primarily by the disadvantaged situation in the sphere of medical care and education, with moral and cultural degradation of large segments of the population that reflects the fundamental nature of the negative sociocultural vector of development of the Russian society. The article strengthens the idea that most Russians consider that the return of Russia to the set of the leading world states should be realized not by the aggressive external and internal policy, but by solving social, economic and cultural problems.