If not "eternal peace," then the continuation of life, preferably a safer one

The article addresses the paradoxical situation of modern civilization, which, despite destructive wars and social conflicts (specifically, using the example of the escalating confrontation between Iran and Israel), continues to reproduce destructive mechanisms that threaten its existence. The author analyzes why traditional arguments about the inevitability of wars as a "necessary condition for development" stop working in the age of weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, he refers to Immanuel Kant's idea of a "perpetual peace," which transforms from a philosophical utopia into an urgent requirement for survival. A key thesis of the research is the assertion that modern conflicts are rooted not only in geopolitical contradictions but also in the nature of "higher knowledge" imposed by the state and power institutions through practices of imposition and management. Drawing on the works of Martin van Creveld and Zygmunt Bauman, the author shows how an absolute belief in one's own righteousness is formed (for example, the ideology of the destruction of Israel), which blocks rational proposals for resolution. Special attention is given to the semiotic nature of these processes, as well as esoteric explanations of conflicts (D. Andreyev, E. Swedenborg), which, alongside rational explanations, intensify inter-civilizational confrontation. The author concludes that the scale of risks dramatically increases during periods of change in social order and cultural paradigms (in our time, the transition from modernity to postmodernity and "future culture"), accompanied by a crisis of national states and a loss of governance. In these conditions, the human instinct for self-preservation comes into conflict with the inertia of outdated "higher knowledge," while catastrophic scenarios become probable due to both technological threats and the inability of the parties to rethink reality. The article concludes with reflections on the necessity of overcoming ideological barriers to preserve life on Earth.