Tony, Tony! That Blair flair

When word first leaked out that former Prime Minister Tony Blair was headlining part two of the Leadership Conference Series, we were barraged with a lot of interesting feedback. A lady friend immediately texted and asked, “Is it true that my Tony is coming?” explaining that she was his most ardent admirer regardless of what anyone had to say. At the other end of the spectrum, a business executive snorted, “He’s a has-been!” as if this detracts from Blair’s stature as a much-sought-after global mentor. In between, the questions were, How much? Where? When? Who’s bringing him? Why not bring Madonna instead? Plus other comments ranging from thoughtful and benign to self-important and conspiratorial.

The Leadership Conference Series is the brainchild of Campaigns Social Response (CSR), the advocacy unit of the communications agency Campaigns and Grey. The big idea was to bring global leaders to Manila who could impart their experience and expertise on a specific facet of leadership and perhaps inspire local leaders to learn, adapt or innovate. Of course, there will always be the usual supercilious reaction from parties who feel that there is no need to bring outsiders in since they are more competent than anyone else. Delusions aside, the objective was to underscore and remind us of what true leadership means, especially since there is such a vacuum in our country.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who spoke on “Leadership in Times of Crisis,” was the first offering. He spoke with passion and authority on the Sept. 11, 2001 debacle that changed the world forever. His decisive action and handling of the terrorist attack earned him the world’s admiration. He was named Time’s Person of the Year and conferred the Knight of the British Empire for his heroic feat.

For the second part, Tony Blair will speak on “The Leader as a Principled Negotiator,” drawing from his involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process as well as his current mission as Middle East envoy for the Quartet. Although his exit from politics was less than gracious (like most politicians), his accomplishments cannot be diminished by even the most strident critics. Tony Blair won three general elections, waged five wars, and changed the way his country is governed. Unlike his friend and buddy George “Dubya” Bush, the international community continues to look up to him despite his role in the Iraq war. No wonder he is dubbed “contrarian and magician” by the British press.

As Jonathan Freedman wrote, “Tony Blair was a man blessed with the rarest of talents, surely the best communicator to dominate British politics since Churchill. Even when he was counted out, he somehow bounced back to flatten his opponents... Blair had established himself as more than a mere politician. He was the leader of the nation, a position from which it is far harder to be dislodged. That success was partly a function of the settled will of the voters, who had decided in 1997 that, after 18 years in exile, Labour would be given a proper turn at government, which meant at least two terms, almost regardless of what happened.”

Bill Clinton, the 42nd US President and founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation, has only praise for Tony Blair. “When my friend Tony Blair stepped down as UK Prime Minister last year, I advised him to take some time off with his family and make a list of the issues he felt passionately about and that he could continue to pursue. It was the least he had earned after a decade of modernizing his country’s economy, making the UK one of the few nations to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions more than required to meet their Kyoto target and leading the G-8 to historic commitments to support Africa and fight global poverty.

“Tony listened to my advice graciously but ignored it completely by immediately accepting a new job as Middle East envoy for the Quartet. I have always admired Tony’s willingness to wade into troubled waters. Ten years ago, he did a masterly job in helping to end 30 years of sectarian violence and broker a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. Now he is demonstrating the dedication and intensity to promote economic opportunity in the Middle East, learning from his Irish experience that showing the concrete benefits of peace can play a crucial role in making a just and lasting peace possible.

“Tony, 54, also knows that even the benefits of an enduring peace in the Middle East and the dramatic reductions in terrorism it would bring could be wiped away if we don’t save the planet from the worst consequences of global warming. So he has taken on another big challenge: shaping a new global agreement to cut carbon emissions. Because my foundation is involved with projects to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in more than 40 large cities on six continents, I know how important and difficult Tony’s work is, and I look forward to the visionary leadership he will bring to it.

“As his friend, I hope Tony finds fulfillment in advancing the public good as a private citizen. As a member of our interdependent global community, I thank him for not taking a day off when we need him the most.”

Many political analysts like Timothy Garth Ash and Jonathan Freedman have attempted to fill out the balance sheet of success and failure on Blair’s decade. The question being asked is, who is better off? Britain after 10 years of Blair, France after 12 years of Jacques Chirac, Germany following eight years of Gerhard Schröder, or the US after eight years of George Bush?

Both concede that Blair’s fiercest critics cannot begrudge him his triumphs. First, it was during his watch when Northern Ireland stopped being synonymous with terror and bloodshed. The Good Friday agreement, and the impending restoration of devolution under Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams, showed the very best of Blair, drawing on the full array of his skills. He was patient, thorough, immersed in the detail, slippery when necessary, inspirational when required. Peace in Northern Ireland is Blair’s greatest monument. Also high on the credit side is Blair as the liberal interventionist who led the way in forging an international action to reverse the genocide being perpetuated by Milosevic against Muslim Albanians in Kosovo.

The Labour Party owes him for a record of unprecedented political success. No one can ever take away the fact that he achieved what no leader of his party had ever managed before — winning not just two full terms (a feat in itself) but three! He ended the Labour curse — its association with failure and defeat. Blair will be remembered as an electoral performer and a natural winner. Britons who are used to the Blair flair may someday miss it, especially if the leaders who follow have less star power.

But on the debit side of the ledger, there is one perplexing red figure — Iraq. Why did he endorse the war? Part of it was conviction: he had urged action against Saddam way back in 1999, while Bush was just the governor of Texas. Part of it might have been a messianic purpose, forged in the Kosovo conflict, when he saw foreign policy as an arena for moral purpose. Blair watchers think that he saw himself as blessed with higher powers of judgment than the lesser mortals around him.

Historians may deliberate the balance sheet for decades to come. But there is complete alignment at the bottom line that Blair is one of 21st century’s paramount speakers, perhaps rivaled in eloquence only by President Barack Obama.

Tony Blair will be in Manila one day only, on March 23, at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent. This conference was made possible by Smart Infinity and the PLDT-Smart Foundation, along with co-presenters The Philippine STAR and De La Salle University. VIP and popularly priced general admission tickets are available at Ticket World, tel. no. 891-9999.

Last question: Why not Madonna? We’ll take the fifth on that one.

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Contact the author at mscom@campaignsandgrey.com or ms.comfeedback@gmail.com.