\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe internet really has radically defined the ways military and security forces, as well as defense contractors, can promote themselves, while also giving journalists and researchers copious amounts of extra material to pore over when looking for new and interesting tidbits. Case in point, a recent and slickly produced music video from Azerbaijan\u2019s State Border Service, featuring a former contestant on The Voice of Azerbaijan, along with a full band, performing around tanks, armed helicopters, and patrol boats. It even includes the launch of Israeli-made suicide drones.
\nAzerbaijan\u2019s border guard posted the music video, titled \u201cWays of the Queen\u201d and staring Narmin Karimbayova and Nur Group, on its official YouTube channel, which is a thing that most definitely exists, on April 11, 2018. Joseph Dempsey, a defense researcher with the International Insitute for Strategic Studies, was among the first to notice that, in addition to a catchy song, the full production offered an unusually detailed look at some of the small Caucasus country\u2019s most advanced weaponry. It also prominently features clips of dictatorial President Ilham Aliyev, who has run the country since 2003, when his father, Heydar Aliyev, died.
\ngoddammit it I love Azerbaijan; they top the list of fucked up dictatorships with their amazing commitment to pop music.
\nI actually felt a little bit patriotic watching that, and I don\u2019t give a damn about Azerbaijan. The revolutionary instrument of the 1960s\u2014 vocalist/guitar/bass/keyboard/drums\u2014 works just as well in the service of reaction. All they need is a sticker on the guitar that says \u201cThis machine boosts fascists.\u201d
\npolitics and aesthetics are separate and people confuse them at their peril.
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That sounded so ‘80s trash-pop ballad that I was waiting for the Pop-Up Video bubbles
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