Immediately after our historic Victory achieved under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, one of the concepts that entered the country’s political rhetoric is the “new reality”. Yes, the mentioned expression, besides being a political concept, is also a philosophical-ideological concept in terms of its content and capacity. That is why it is wrong to treat the mentioned expression merely as a temporary and popular attribute of daily political rhetoric. The “new reality” must necessarily become one of the main concepts characterizing the new ideology. Therefore, filling the mentioned expression with adequate ideological content falls upon the society, including the intelligentsia and the scientific elite. Otherwise, the true value of the expression may be “spent” in a short time due to unprofessional, populist, irresponsible, and biased comments circulating uncontrollably in the virtual space.
Irresponsible chatter around the “new reality” forming in the entire region as a result of the Azerbaijani people’s historic Victory is unacceptable. We must not overlook that the “new reality” is the starting point of the new history being written, and for this reason, it creates universal opportunities for our people. As a state, nation, and society, we must be able to properly value this unique opportunity, which is destined for the fate of rare countries in world history. In this sense, the state does not have the “luxury” of taking risks, and it is inevitable to take even steps that are not considered popular in order to prevent various provocations.
In the plane of ideology, it is impossible to separate “thought” and “politics” from each other. The life of politics without thought is short, and thought without politics has no social benefit. The political experience of world countries clearly shows that ideology is the main factor ensuring the sustainable development of the state. In the modern turbulent world, ideology can act as an inexhaustible resource for the state and society. Of course, taking the mentioned into account, our ideology must also necessarily be enriched with the concept of “new reality”.
Space of provocation and panic
It is dangerous to leave the process of forming national political thought and national ideology to the “street” and the borderless internet. Sustainable and healthy democratic traditions cannot be formed on the street. The “street” has historically been a space of provocation and panic. Undoubtedly, the priority in the matter of maintaining ideological stability belongs to the state and the relevant institutions of the state, and “science” is the most important of these institutions. One of the main qualities characterizing the modern world is the observed environment of fierce competition. In open competition, abandoning scientific approaches means taking a defeated position from the beginning. The creative approach, which has been considered a trend in recent times, is actually well-camouflaged science. For some reason, those who call for “creativity” in various fields of social relations forget that creativity without science is like music without notes.
Another important factor that we must take into account in the current issue is that the “new reality”, whose author is the Azerbaijani people, worries some states very much, and this reality does not fit their geopolitical interests at all. At this point, we should recall the thought voiced by President Ilham Aliyev at the inauguration ceremony in 2024: “We – I already said this during the Second Karabakh War and during the anti-terror operation – moved such stones that were considered immovable that they will not forgive us for this, we must know this.” As years pass and we witness various events, we understand more clearly how true these thoughts of the head of state are.
Old approach and remnants of old politics
Let us make a small comparison to understand the real reasons for some of the processes we are witnessing. The Azerbaijani and even the world public already know very well that due to the existence of mined areas, which are the legacy of the Armenian occupation policy, the restoration of the liberated territories, as well as the process of the return of former internally displaced persons who have suffered for many years to their native lands, face fundamental difficulties. An approximately analogous situation is experienced with the “new reality” that is forming. On the road leading to the “new reality”, which increases Azerbaijan’s international power and creates conditions for the rapid solution of issues that concern the people, there are various deeply buried “mines”.
Old approaches and the remnants of old politics, like deeply buried mines, slow down the rapid construction of the new reality. We can assume that this is one of the main reasons why President Ilham Aliyev remains principled and loyal to his reform course despite various pressures. In the current issue, the head of state always demonstrates a principled position and unwavering political will. Of course, it is impossible to imagine the “new reality” without a new system of relations in politics.
It is no coincidence that important changes in terms of content have been observed in the country’s political relations system in recent years. To see the essence of these changes, let us recall the thought voiced by President Ilham Aliyev during the videoconference dedicated to the socio-economic results of the first quarter of 2020: “Because opposition representatives sometimes see flaws that government representatives do not see, they voice them, they bring them to attention, and this is a very positive phenomenon. However, at the same time, I want to say again that for all political forces, one goal, one issue must be untouchable, and that is our independence, our statehood, and state interests.”
Potential of political dialogue
For a functioning democracy, the mere existence of different approaches in politics and society is not enough. For this, conditions for the effective synthesis and complementarity of different approaches must exist. The political dialogue environment, which has been actively promoted despite all biased criticisms for approximately the last 5-6 years, is calculated precisely to create that fertile ground. It is a result of this that concepts such as “agreement” and “compromise” have begun to take place in Azerbaijani politics, which has been characterized by its antagonistic nature for many years. Such trends directly serve the formation of sustainable democratic traditions. Thus, the political dialogue environment is one of the effective mechanisms that neutralize deeply buried “mines”. The main reason why we witness the periodically repeated hysterics of provocative forces that have understood the mentioned potential of political dialogue is precisely the factor we mentioned.
Politoloq Asif Usubəliyev