British Prime Minister Tony Blair opens up to let the world know what he really thinks. The lengthy article in Foreign Affairs starts with rambling platitudes about Islam including this insight:” To me, the most remarkable thing about the Koran is how progressive it is.” The rest of the commentary then dissolves into liberal fantasy of how common values will make the entire world a better place.
A Battle for Global Values: We have to show that our values are not Western, still less American or Anglo-Saxon, but values in the common ownership of humanity, universal values that should be the right of the global citizen.
The danger with the United States today is not that it is too involved in the world. The danger is that it might pull up the drawbridge and disengage. The world needs it involved. The world wants it engaged. The reality is that none of the problems that press in on us can be resolved or even approached without it.
In my nine years as prime minister, I have not become less idealistic or more cynical. I have simply become more persuaded that the distinction between a foreign policy driven by values and one driven by interests is wrong. Globalization begets interdependence, and interdependence begets the necessity of a common value system to make it work. Idealism thus becomes realpolitik.
