1 post tagged “britain”

Now that Blair is expected to step down around the end of June, questions about his legacy already floating around the political climate for months will now have ro be taken seriously and analyzed. I don't expect him to be fully understood or fairly evaluated as a leader until much further down the road, but that's just the nature of politics. Americans, in general, do not understand Blair, his political character, or his governmental system. Casual conservatives love the man for his support of Bush and the war, but they know of little else he stands for, and they certainly wouldn't vote Labour if they lived in Britain. Liberals despise him for the same reason conservatives love him, but I fall in line with neither side. I admire his (and Gordon Brown's) anti-poverty work and internationalist policies. Obviously I would have opposed his decision to go to war, but there was little debate in Britain at the time, at least between the two major parties, and his decision would have hardly been unique to other politicians'. It's sad that he has to leave office with such a cloud hanging over his head, but in time I believe history will view him as the largely positive leader that he was. Taken from this article, from realclearpolitics.com, as always:

"When anger fades and regret settles in, historians will judge the Iraq war a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Blair is not the first leader to disregard the complicated political history of the Middle East, but Britons expected better of this deeply intelligent man. Despite all the evidence of perfidy, he seems to have had a noble purpose, but that makes his failure all the more tragic. He believed that Britain, because of its historical status, was duty bound to intervene and that it was uniquely placed to act as a moderating influence on President Bush. Mr. Bush, however, was immune to moderation. British statecraft was crushed by American adventurism."

The article sums up with this:

"In years to come, historians will argue whether Blair was an architect of destiny or a floater on the tide of circumstance. History students will assess his credentials as a great man. No one, however, will doubt his status as a harbinger of an age when ideology is nothing and power everything."

Now, of course, Gordon Brown finally gets his shot as prime minister. I for one like his grumpy demeanor, among other things. But he has a lot to live up to, a party to fix, and a lot of supporters who are counting on him to keep Labour from disappearing into 1980's limbo status. I have a feeling he'll pull it off.