The former Prime Minister spoke at Seton Hall University's Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations on Tuesday, February 3rd. The reception was warm, and at the same time, Mr. Blair took no steps towards admitting mistakes in his foreign policy. Many Europeans (and Americans) fault him for not opposing former U.S. President George W. Bush on Iraq. In front of the packed auditorium, which included scholars, ambassadors, business leaders and the university community - Mr. Blair warned that today's global problems were too large and too intertwined to be solved by only a few nations. He said that even if the U.K. reduced its CO2 emissions to zero, China will have made up the difference in 18 months. He also called the G8 and UN Security Council out of date, noting that counties such as India and Brazil needed seats at the negotiating table. On the whole, he demonstrated that he understood the gravity of the world's problems ahead, but like many other equally stumped experts, he did not present a plan to fix them.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Tony Blair's Multipolar Worldview
The former Prime Minister spoke at Seton Hall University's Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations on Tuesday, February 3rd. The reception was warm, and at the same time, Mr. Blair took no steps towards admitting mistakes in his foreign policy. Many Europeans (and Americans) fault him for not opposing former U.S. President George W. Bush on Iraq. In front of the packed auditorium, which included scholars, ambassadors, business leaders and the university community - Mr. Blair warned that today's global problems were too large and too intertwined to be solved by only a few nations. He said that even if the U.K. reduced its CO2 emissions to zero, China will have made up the difference in 18 months. He also called the G8 and UN Security Council out of date, noting that counties such as India and Brazil needed seats at the negotiating table. On the whole, he demonstrated that he understood the gravity of the world's problems ahead, but like many other equally stumped experts, he did not present a plan to fix them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It was very interesting to hear Mr. Blair speak of the need for inter-faith dialogue as one way to achieve global peace and security. Recent conferences have strengthened this point such as: King Abdullah’s Interfaith Conference in Mecca, Saudi Arabia; the Global Interfaith Dialogue Conference in Madrid, Spain; and the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is my hope the U.S. has a stronger presence in other global forums in line with the religious aspect of the “Dialogue Among Civilizations.”
Post a Comment