Civilisation in the crosshairs On the tragic trends of our time

Even a quick glance through YouTube pages or a scroll through the newsfeeds of the world’s leading agencies is enough to inspire fear. Not so much because of the images of what is happening, but because of the way the unfolding global tragedy is being presented. A tragedy of people, lands, countries, and even entire regions.

It is frightening — truly. Because analytical reports and media broadcasts often devote more time and space not to the deaths of innocent children or pregnant women, the elderly; not to the disappearance of entire families or bloodlines from the face of the earth; not to the presence of famine or refugees who have lost their homes and everything earned through a lifetime of hard work — but to the brands of weapons used to shell civilians, the power of missile strikes, or the strength of air defence systems.

In other words, human life has effectively been reduced to nothing — because the deaths of innocents, as we’ve already noted, are now seen as mere “collateral damage” or “accidents” of war. That’s why news feeds are saturated, once again, with information about weapon capabilities, rare earth metals, GDP percentages allocated to defence, missile defence systems, and the like.

So it’s no surprise that in the context of the world’s largest international arms exhibition in Le Bourget (France), nearly all analytical platforms focused not on the question of who the showcased offensive weapons are intended to be used against, but rather on the fact that — ahead of the opening — the Israeli pavilion had been draped in black cloth and made off-limits to visitors. In other words, that detail became a sensation for many, while the very presence of instruments of death on display — against the backdrop of thousands of civilian deaths — hardly raised an eyebrow.

Of course, this is not a call for artificial pacifism. Azerbaijan’s experience has shown that weapons can be used to achieve historical justice — in full accordance with the norms and principles of international law. Especially in the context of implementing UN Security Council resolutions aimed at expelling occupiers from the sovereign territories of other nations.

The point here is slightly different: today, we are all, in effect, watching — in real time — a global descent into lawlessness, where, once again, the deaths of innocent people have become a natural backdrop to life in the universe.

It is in this light that Azerbaijan’s experience can be revisited once more. When the Armenian armed forces launched missile strikes on peaceful Azerbaijani cities during the Second Karabakh War, these actions were rightly defined as war crimes. In response, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated: “We are avenging and will continue to avenge the deaths of our martyrs, of innocent civilians on the battlefield. We have never fought or will ever wage a war against the civilian population. We are not Armenians. We have our own way, we have our own cause, and all the Azerbaijani people are united around this cause. All the Azerbaijani people are showing solidarity and patriotism.”

And in an interview with the German TV channel ARD in October 2020, responding to a correspondent’s question — “Why actually is Karabakh so important for Azerbaijan? I mean, is there a kind of resource or is it just symbolic?” — the head of state delivered a powerful historical lesson: “Alsace and Lorraine, is it important for you? Bavaria, is it important for you? Or Rhine-Westphalia? It is our land, our territory, internationally recognized. It is not a matter of resources. We have main resources here in Baku. It is a matter of justice, it is a matter of national pride and it is a matter of international law. International law and the whole international community recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. And we are restoring justice and we are implementing the UN Security Council resolutions which were on paper for 27 years.”

So, let us emphasise once again: in the context we are addressing, this is not about artificial pacifism. What we are talking about is the grim reality that today’s global climate effectively allows the use of weapons against defenceless civilian populations with impunity — where the deaths of entire families are merely recorded as statistical data.

As a result, the very fabric of existence — laid down for all of us by the Almighty — is being corroded. Because values such as humanity, compassion, kindness, and empathy are being pushed to the margins of life.

Perhaps, for certain forces, it remains important to prove that the long-invoked concept of a “clash of civilisations” is still alive and relevant. And the architects of this narrative appear unconcerned that it is not merely behind the façade of this so-called clash — often framed as interfaith or interethnic conflict — but within it, that children are dying.

Meanwhile, those same children — whether they wish to or not — are growing up surrounded by images of devastation. When death by bombing no longer shocks but becomes a routine part of the human experience, an almost expected backdrop to daily life, something essential is lost. A moral line fades.

Will the world’s warmongers ever be restrained? Or are we destined to watch, again and again, as innocence is sacrificed for the ambitions of power?