GEOPOLITICAL DAVOS

War, terrorist attacks, victims, refugees and crisis ... Perhaps people who live in some quiet part of the planet (if there is one) do not even feel the gravity of the situation that is behind the keywords of today's news releases. However, if you pay attention to how the once carefree Europeans are now suffering from the war in seemingly distant Syria, we can see that in the modern world it is impossible to divide threats into your own and theirs.

We note with regret that efforts aimed at international cooperation against modern challenges are inferior in efficiency to the national interests of the world's centres of power. This increases the relevance of the creation of a truly multi-polar world, to which the fourth Global Forum in Baku attended by a number of current and former heads of state and government was dedicated.

"From a political point of view, the unipolar perspective, which covered mainly the 1990s, has been replaced by a joint multi-polar one, and covering advisory forces with the participation of a large number of countries, it expanded the G7 or G8 formula, laying the basis for the creation of G20," Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina of Egypt Ismail Serageldin said at the opening of the forum.

According to him, a multi-polar world can offer many opportunities to respond to global challenges, among which he highlighted the scope of global terrorism that began with the 11 September events in New York and accelerated after the collapse of the "Arab Spring".

"Due to the fact that Al-Qaeda and ISIL terrorists have launched a brutal propaganda campaign for Islam in Muslim-majority countries and in the West and in Western European countries, where Islam is the second religion, there is an ever deepening gulf between the Western and Muslim communities," Serageldin said.

In this context, the current Global Baku Forum focused on the role of interreligious dialogue in overcoming alienation, promoting pluralism and building bridges between communities. And this is no accident.

"This year is a Year of Multiculturalism in Azerbaijan. People belonging to different ethnic roots and religions have lived in Azerbaijan in peace and tranquility for centuries, and we are proud of it. We are pleased that in the years of independence, this positive trend intensified even more. Multiculturalism and religious tolerance in Azerbaijan are a state policy. At the same time, it is the embodiment of sentiment prevailing in society. And it is very important that state policy and the general atmosphere in this area do not differ," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the opening of the Humanitarian Forum.

He recalled that in 2008, Azerbaijan initiated the "Baku process", in which it organized for the first time the participation of the culture ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in a meeting of culture ministers of the Council of Europe member states held in Baku.

"The Baku process is already a reality. We conducted in Azerbaijan numerous international events that promote multicultural values. We organized a summit of world religious leaders and the Forum on Intercultural Dialogue and the International Humanitarian Forum several times. After about a month we will host the UN-sponsored 7th meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations in Azerbaijan," the president pointed out.

The fact that Azerbaijan, which hosted the First European Games last year, will host the Islamic Solidarity Games next year says a lot. Baku, which hosted the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, was later declared the capital of Islamic culture. As a member of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan is also an active member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Baku's increased attention to the problem of inter-cultural dialogue is natural. Azerbaijan is making every effort for the development of this process, since it is familiar with all the dire consequences of war and terror not by hearsay: 20 per cent of the country is occupied by neighbouring Armenia, towns and villages were ethnically cleansed, and more than 1 million Azerbaijanis were expelled from their homes.

However, international efforts are actually nullified in this issue, since centres of power only mimic interaction. "Sometimes Security Council resolutions are executed within a few hours or a day. When it comes to us, it's been twenty years. This testifies to the lack of political will, in particular, to the fact that the states that have adopted these resolutions have no political will," the president of Azerbaijan said in this connection.

That is to say at a time when there is a lack of a multi-polar world order, even some of its mechanisms such as the UN, "great sevens", "great twenties" and other platforms are used by centres of power to advance their own great power ambitions. This ultimately has a boomerang effect on themselves.

"We have already seen that the distance between Europe and the Middle East is not so great. That is to say the distance is not an obstacle when people go there in search of refuge and to save their families. Therefore, the promotion of these values using positive examples of multiculturalism will help all of us, because in the future, no country and nation can live in isolation," Ilham Aliyev said.

Thus, Azerbaijan demonstrates consistency in its quest to at least prevent alienation between peoples, religions and cultures. And the Global Forum in Baku becomes one of the strongest platforms to address this problem.

The credibility of any international forum is measured first of all by the composition of its participants. The 4th Baku Global Forum, along with the presidents of Albania, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Georgia and other countries, was attended by more than 300 representatives from 53 countries, including 27 former presidents and 23 ex-prime ministers.

And it is important that the format of such a representative forum is informal, which allows the participants to demonstrate to the global agenda an approach unfettered by narrow political interests.

Another significant factor is also the participation in the Global Forum in Baku of youth who bear responsibility for the future of the world.

Azerbaijan has the ability to claim the role of a moderator in issues of intercultural dialogue due to its strategic location at the junction of North and South, and West and East and transnational projects initiated by the country. On the other hand, Azerbaijan has always been a centre of contact between civilizations.

"We can talk about the Baku Initiative as an approach to the resolution of conflicts through peaceful means. But I would like to note the importance of this forum. Towards a multi-polar world - this is a very important thesis. This is a new thesis in comparison with the previous forums. This is recognition of the fact that we are moving away from a unipolar world. We are going towards a multi-polar world, but so far it is not clear how it will look. That is the question: What countries will it rely on? US, China, Russia or EU countries? After all, in addition to economic power, each country also has political and military power, and there are also moral factors. There are centres of authority, which can be so-called moral capitals in this multipolar world. The mere formulation of the question is also a look at today's challenges and a search for sides of the new world. It is very important that a forum on this topic is being held in Baku, because Azerbaijan has earned itself moral authority, although this country does not have economic and military power like the United States and China, for example. Azerbaijan is able to bring together the warring sides of a conflict and resolve issues in a peaceful way," the famous Russian orientalist Dmitriy Mosyakov said in an interview with the Moscow-Baku portal.

He drew attention to the fact that the Baku forum was attended by representatives of the Balkan states, where conflicts have still not died down. In Baku they are open to dialogue with each other. That is to say Azerbaijan has created a comfortable international platform for the development of a common approach to the problems disturbing the world. In an interview with journalists, the former prime minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zlatko Lagumdzija, even called the Global Baku Forum a "geopolitical Davos".

Indeed, in the first half of March, there was an impression that the whole world had gathered in Baku. And it's not just participants in the Global Forum. Among the dignitaries received by the president of Azerbaijan was Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitriy Rogozin, and Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization Taleb Rifai, the executive director of the American Jewish Committee, David Harris, as well as delegations from other countries.

In this context, the comparison of the deputy of the Milli Maclis of Azerbaijan and political analyst, Rasim Musabayov, is noteworthy. "Since the beginning of the year, not a single president has paid a visit to Armenia and Georgia. But Azerbaijan, besides the fact that it was recently visited by the Hungarian prime minister and the emir of Qatar, has been visited by 7 incumbent and 27 former presidents and a countless number of former heads of governments, ministers and other influential personalities to attend the Global Forum only. Of course, this seriously raises attention to Azerbaijan, and we have the opportunity to articulate our own problems and our own vision of the international agenda while discussing global topics," the analyst said.

The composition of high-ranking visitors to Baku over the past two weeks is also noteworthy. It is an indicator of the growth of international confidence in Azerbaijan as a reliable and predictable partner, as well as confirmation of Baku's commitment to declared values and multi-vector foreign policy in a multipolar world.

"The Fourth Global Forum in Baku is a great initiative. Through this initiative, the international community together creates this perfect platform - a consensus for the best response to global challenges and to determine what action should be taken,"

 David Cameron, the British Prime Minister

"This event is a great opportunity to establish a dialogue between nations and peoples and define ethical rules in the international arena so that the factors that unite us as one world are not used to divide us," 

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

"The world has changed, and trends seem to have turned into a multi-polar configuration. However, the question is how the growing forces can establish an alliance and share responsibility? This issue should be discussed and resolved," 

Bujar Nishani, President of Albania

"Today Europe sees how what is happening in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq affects our lives. It has an impact on the borders. Since the destruction of the Berlin Wall, more than 40 countries have been compelled to build more than 60 walls on their borders with neighbours. The world is far from being balanced today and is not developing in a balanced manner. It is necessary to find new ways," 

Rosen Plevneliyev, President of Bulgaria