The article provides a theoretical analysis of the interaction between the state national security policy and civil society in order to find out the causes arising from the contradictions of this interaction. Grounded on the survey of the development of the conception of civil society and civil consciousness, the controversial nature and complexity of the problem are disclosed. Causes of the contradictions between civil society and the national security system are analyzed in the context of a civil identity conception on the basis of the analysis of value-related priorities. The historic integrity of civil society and the state, as the subject of national security, is surveyed in the discourse of both traditional and contemporary theories. The article presents the insights of the authors on further interaction of civil society and the state in the area of the defense of national security interests.