In the early 1990 s, the foreign policy concept in Russia was based on the policy of «Euro-Atlanticism», which presumed orientation towards the Western model of development, integration with the Western countries and a conflict-free vision of international relations. But unlike the era of «Cold War» with the USSR, the Western countries did not consider the Russian Federation to be equal in status and did not hasten the process of establishing strategic partnership. Russia has never managed to establish an alliance with the Western countries and become «part of the Western world», «Euro-Atlanticism» has not proved itself. In the late 1990s, a shift began to a course of «multi-vector» foreign policy, implying a multipolar system of international relations. Moreover, at the end of the twentieth century, the Russian Federation faced growing threats from the United States and the countries that make up the military-political bloc of NATO, which necessitated a rethinking of priorities and possibilities for ensuring the protection of Russia’s national interests and security, and the development and adoption of new doctrines and concepts on the subject. This article thus deals with the process of establishing State priorities on the basis of the principle of protecting the national interests and safeguarding the national security of the Russian Federation during the period 1999-2007.