Tony Blair and a battle for global values

“And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood." - Isaiah 1:15

As I was reading through the current (Jan/Feb 2007) Foreign Affairs journal, I came upon an essay written by Tony Blair entitled "A Battle for Global Values." He essentially declares that the battle against "global extremism" cannot be won in any sort of conventional way; rather, this battle will be won as the Good Guys demonstrate that their values are far superior to the values of the Bad Guys, thus converting the moderate population at large to the side of the Good Guys. Who are these Good Guys? He goes out of his way to say that they are Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc. who all "believe in religious tolerance, in openness to others, in democracy, in liberty, and in human rights administered in secular courts." I have to wonder if Tony Blair ever looked across the pond at his ally and wondered just how much any of these traits truly apply to him or those who still adore him.

In the article's introduction, Blair declares, "We will never get real support for the tough actions
that may well be essential to safeguarding our way of life unless we also attack global poverty, environmental degradation, and injustice with equal valor." I only wish that Bush were on the same page as Blair when it comes to the global war on terror, but this essay just cemented my opinion that the Blair and Bush alliance is one of necessity. Blair sees his own goals clearly, but he is entirely incapable of working toward those goals without finding a larger ally moving in roughly the same direction.

Of course Blair is right when he says that the credibility and Values capital of "The Coalition of the Willing," hinges on the unrelenting demonstration of religious tolerance, openness to others, democracy, liberty, and human rights administered in secular courts. Every Abu Ghraib; every introduction of religious extremism into the courts of Iraq, Afghanistan, or the United States; every time the United States embraces the hubris of "go it alone" statecraft; every time Newt Gingrich makes headlines talking about the need for limiting free speech in the name of security the war on Values is lost to a few thousand more of those moderates around the world who are watching the Coalition of the Willing so closely. And he rightly recognizes that the War on Terror is doomed to fail unless we attack global poverty, environmental degradation, and injustice with equal valor.

Blair's essay made me sad that the War on Terror looks absolutely nothing like the one he describes.