Tony Blair

I just finished reading a great book - A Journey: My Political Life - by former English Prime Minister Tony Blair.  I found it a most interesting read and would recommend it.

Tony Blair was a progressive Prime Minister succeeding to that role after several years of domination of English politics by the conservative or Tory party (one of whose Prime Ministers was the famous Margaret Thatcher).  The book outlines Tony's struggles to rebuild the Labour Party and trying to infuse change into the political scene.  He was elected PM in 1997 and won two more elections, resigning from the post in 2007 during the middle of his third term.  He is now involved in a number of international efforts toward peace one of which is a Faith Foundation through which he hopes to see the world's religions working together toward peace and harmony in the world.

While one may not agree with all of the policies or political stands he took in his political life, he comes across as a genuine individual whose primary concern was for the welfare of the people he was called to serve and his country.  I think what he says toward the conclusion of his book speaks of the life he has led and continues to lead:

My new life takes me around the world.  There is a common theme to what I do.  My theory of the world today is that globalization, enabled by technology and scientific advance, is creating an interdependent global community, in which, like it or not, people have to live and work together, and share the world's challenges and opportunities  The drivers behind this are not governments, but people, and it is an unstoppable force.  Its consequences, however, are a matter of choice.  We can choose, in the face of this force, to co-exist peacefully, to be tolerant and respectful towards each other, to rejoice in the opportunities now available to us, and try to share them.  Or we can see globalization as a threat, as displacing our traditional way of life and culture, as undermining our identity.  The first leads to a world at peace; the second to conflict.  Both choices are an offer.

Would that politicians and world leaders would heed these words; they could mean so much to our world if they were heeded.  Thanks to Tony Blair.