TONY BLAIR
Modernizing and Reforming 

 Ever since Tony Blair’s New Labour Party won over Britain’s Conservative Party in the 1997 national election, all eyes have been on the new Prime Minister.
 With his focus on family stability and modernizing his country, Blair has been a constant fixture in world media.  His viewpoints on NATO, relations with the United States, and other "touchy" issues have made him the man that many people look to for support and answers.  Perhaps it is his commitment to his beliefs and his unwillingness to lean away from those beliefs that have made Blair the most popular Prime Minister in history.  A look into media coverage as well as insight into Blair’s viewpoints will help to better understand the British Prime Minister.
 After his arrival at 10 Downing Street, Blair began focusing on a list of issues he feels deserve government attention.  This list includes, “...tax policy, child-care support, schools, truancy, jobs for young people, flexible working hours, parental leave, sex education and opportunities for advancement for residents of inner-city neighborhoods” (Hodge).
 An article in The New York Times (May 14, 2000) addresses Blair’s policies and includes interviews with the Prime Minister as well as his closest friends and advisors.  The journalist credits Blair with moving Britain from an incompatible, class bound country to a more modern and tolerant society:
“He came to power with reforming ideas for British society and global ambitions of how his island nation could fulfill its assigned role of punching above its weight.  He has made significant headway in his objectives of moving the United Kingdom away from ideological and classbound politics, energizing the individual parts of it--Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland--by yielding some of London’s authority over them, liberating British business from restrictions that discourage risk-taking, getting rid of fusty anachronisms like the hereditary peers of the House of Lords, reducing the poor’s dependence on the state and turning countrymen famous for their bloody-minded independence into at least grudging Europeans” (Hodge).

TONY BLAIR AND NATO
“Ours is the first generation able to contemplate the possibility that we may live our entire lives without going to war or sending our children to war.  That is a prize beyond value.”-Tony Blair

 Although Blair is making headway in his own country, the rest of the world looked to him in Kosovo’s time of crisis.  Blair was one of the most out-spoken advocates of the NATO air strikes in Kosovo.
 During this tense time, Blair made many appearances supporting NATO’s decision of extensive air strikes.  Throughout the entire process, NATO was questioned on the actions being taken.  Blair seemed to take on most of this doubt.
 In a PBS interview, ‘The Newshour with Jim Lehrer’, Blair was faced with many hard-hitting questions.  One of which was, “Are the people of Great Britain ready to send their young people to die on the ground in Kosovo?”  Blair’s reply:
“We take risks the moment we start any form of military campaign, even with our aircrews; they are risking their lives every night.  Look nobody wants to be in this situation, nobody wants to be in this conflict-but as I again said right at the very beginning, we have a choice: we either stand aside and let this man conduct a policy effectively of racial genocide in a part of Europe; or we say I am afraid we are not going to allow that…”

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 In an article written for the Independent, Prime Minister Blair sent a message about NATO’s involvement in Kosovo:
“Some people argue that Kosovo is a far away place that has little to do with Britain.  Why should we get involved?  Why there?
To them I say I will not ignore war and instability in Europe.  Fighting in Bosnia since 1991 has shown we cannot take our contingent for granted.  Our responsibilities do not end at the English Channel.  If we can prevent war, we should strive to do so….”

This was the repeated message conveyed by the media during this time—Blair
will not back down and neither will NATO as a whole.  Blair continues to be an active supporter of all of NATO’s goals.
The Prime Minister’s Speech At
 NATO’s 50th Anniversary
 
 

INSERT PICTURE OF BLAIRS AND CLINTONS

“This is our great strength.  There’s no doubt in my mind that Britain has an important role with Europe and a strong relationship with the United States, and the two complement each other.  I will wage perpetual war against the view that Britain should choose America rather than Europe or Europe rather than America.  It is completely and utterly counterproductive for this country”-Tony Blair
 
 

When Britain’s relationship with the United States is concerned, Blair is optimistic.  Blair was the first political leader to stand beside President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and admits to looking to Clinton’s politics for ideas.
The New York Times (May 14, 2000) reported that Blair, or the “Modernizer,” as he is often called wants, “…modern Britain to be thought of as the pivotal nation bridging Europe, a continent he says he wants to help lead, with the United States, a country he says he doesn’t mind following”(Hodge).
Although Blair’s primary responsibility is Great Britain, his out-spoken ways have landed him in a chair of world responsibility.  Many people have taken the opinion that what can’t be fixed, can be fixed…by Tony Blair.
 An article in World Tibet News (October 15, 1999) called attention to the UK-China Summit.  This article explained how the Human Rights Watch was calling on Blair to use the summit as way to convince China’s President to, “Take practical, concrete steps to improve human rights in China and Tibet.
 The article lays out a list of issues and recommendations that Blair should address while at the summit.  The issues included pressing for the abolition of the death penalty, securing a commitment that international humanitarian organizations will be allowed regular access to China’s prison system and the release of 2000 persons imprisoned on charges of “counterrevolution.
 The article ended with a quote from the Brussels director of the Human Rights Watch, Lotte Leicht stating, “If Tony fails to use the summit to press for meaningful human rights improvements, he will make a mockery of the government’s notion of an ethical foreign policy.”
 

BRITAIN’S VIEWS ON THE PRIME MINISTER
“Tony Blair has been so successful for sufficiently long, that there is now a part of every Briton, including most of his closest friends and allies, that would like to see him humiliated and broken.”-Sin Simon: political writer
 

As a political figure that is respected and called upon throughout the world, many people wonder why the British are always doubting him.
Two international newspapers reported of one