Do We Need the Gabala Radar Station?

In a city where the wind from the Caspian Sea has long been part of everyday life, a new threat comes not from land or sea, but from above — in the form of heavy rains that increasingly turn the streets of Baku into canals.

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.