A picture of the year of peace and confidence

The Institute for Economics and Peace has published its report, Global Terrorism Index 2026. According to the report, Azerbaijan is classified among countries with a low level of terrorist risk. The document states that there were no terrorism-related fatalities in the country in 2025. However, changes in the global and regional security environment, particularly tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran, require a reassessment of terrorism risks.

The latest wave of torrential rain that paralysed roads, flooded underpasses and submerged entire neighbourhoods of Azerbaijan’s capital no longer looks like merely a story of climate instability. In light of updated technical and programme data, the events point to a more significant issue for external audiences: the widening gap between strategic infrastructure commitments and their actual implementation on the ground.

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence is reshaping Azerbaijan’s digital economy, but it is also accelerating the evolution of cyber fraud, exposing structural weaknesses in financial systems, law enforcement capacity and personal data protection.

The unfolding confrontation around Iran inevitably invites comparisons with the second Karabakh war of 2020 — a conflict that reshaped modern perceptions of warfare through its speed, technological integration and operational clarity. At the same time, parallels are emerging between the “limited” operation by the United States and Israel aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear program and Russia’s so-called special military operation in Ukraine. However, despite certain similarities, the deeper logic of these three cases reveals fundamental differences.