Tony Blair | A man of many wars

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, 72, will play a key position within the transitional physique that may govern the post-war Gaza Strip, as per U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point “Peace Plan”. Mr. Trump’s plan attracts closely from a proposal that Mr. Blair himself had developed by means of his assume tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

In Mr. Blair’s model of the plan, a world physique, the Gaza International Transitional Authority (GITA), would govern the Gaza Strip for a sure quantity of years. In Mr. Trump’s proposal, Article 9 states that Gaza could be “governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee”. This Palestinian committee, nonetheless, will report back to “a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace”, which will probably be headed and chaired by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, with different members and heads of State to be introduced, together with former Prime Minister Tony Blair.”

Also learn | Trump’s Gaza peace plan: What’s within the 20-point peace proposal?

The governance construction comprising a transitional Palestinian committee and the Board of Peace is a rehash of Mr. Blair’s GITA mannequin. Both variations envisage an administrative hierarchy with a rich white man (Mr. Blair/Mr. Trump) from the West helming an apex physique that might “exercise supreme strategic and political authority”. Palestinian illustration comes on the backside of the managerial ladder. Its remit is restricted to the nitty-gritty of civic governance resembling policing, municipal companies, and vaccination programmes.

Mr. Trump’s plan additionally makes it clear that the “framework and funding” for the redevelopment of Gaza will probably be managed by the Board of Peace. As per leaked excerpts of Mr. Blair’s proposal, this Board would consist of seven to 10 members, with sizeable illustration to billionaire buyers, alongside Arab/Muslim faces to bestow a semblance of legitimacy.

A main criticism levelled towards Mr. Trump’s Gaza plan is that Palestinians weren’t consulted, which is each true and unsurprising, given its provenance in Mr. Blair’s assume tank. However, what has sparked outrage is the return of Mr. Blair as a “Governor” determine. British politician George Galloway posted on social media, “Once it was clear that Satan was fully occupied elsewhere, Tony Blair was the obvious choice to govern Gaza for Trump and Netanyahu.” British and American broadcaster Mehdi Hasan wrote, “Putting Tony Blair in charge of any kind of peace effort in the Middle East [West Asia] is like making the arsonist the head fire-fighter; the burglar the chief detective.” What makes Mr. Blair such a polarising determine, and why is he the chosen one to run Gaza?

Labour chief

Mr. Blair turned chief of the Labour Party in 1994 following the premature loss of life of his predecessor, John Smith. Interestingly, he did so even supposing social gathering colleague and rival Gordon Brown was seen as Smith’s pure successor. A gifted politician, Mr. Blair broke with conventional Labour politics — democratic socialism driving on assist from commerce unions — by following a “third way” that gained over the center lessons. Named “New Labour” by analysts, he adopted a centrist, pro-market stance on the financial entrance, and in a pointy departure from the non-interventionism of “old Labour”, embraced an ‘interventionist’ international coverage. The shift labored brilliantly. Mr. Blair led Labour to victory in three consecutive parliamentary elections. He turned the longest-serving Labour Prime Minister in British historical past, holding workplace from 1997 to 2007. Worsening relations with Mr. Brown, nonetheless, compelled him to resign in June 2007.

As Prime Minister, Mr. Blair’s greatest achievement was brokering the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended a long time of brutal sectarian battle in Northern Ireland. It was a triumph that might turn into his calling card — and a slightly profitable one — as an skilled in battle decision. He additionally put into motion the “Blair Doctrine” of “humanitarian interventionism” by sending British troops to Kosovo in 1999 and to Sierra Leone, a former British colony, in 2000. He believed that “the international community” had a proper to intervene within the inner affairs of sovereign nations so as to cease human rights abuses.

Ironically, his penchant for interventionism, which gained him plaudits within the context of Kosovo and Sierra Leone, would, along with his cheerleading of the 2003 Iraq conflict, result in his downfall and eventual standing as a political pariah. The Chilcot Inquiry into Britain’s involvement within the Iraq conflict delivered a searing indictment of Mr. Blair’s position as Prime Minister, charging him with deceiving the British individuals and dragging Britain into an pointless, unlawful conflict on false pretexts (there have been no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq). It additionally famous that Mr. Blair despatched British troops to a rustic that posed no threats to British pursuits, in a transfer that price the lives of 179 British residents, apart from hundreds of Iraqi lives, displacing tens of millions of Iraqis, and creating long-term instability within the area. It led many, together with members of his personal social gathering, to model him a “war criminal”.

Immediately after resigning as PM, Mr. Blair was made the “Middle East Envoy” of the Quartet — the U.S., the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia. On paper, his mandate was to assist construct Palestinian establishments and liaise with all of the stakeholders for financial growth. But Mr. Blair, a trusted good friend of Israel, made no seen effort to both halt the enlargement of Israeli settlements or push for a two-state settlement. He did not win the belief or respect of the Palestinians. Though he flopped as a peacemaker, his private wealth grew quickly, by means of paid consultancies with governments within the area, talking engagements, and working as an middleman for billionaire businessmen.

Larry Ellison, the Zionist billionaire who’s in talks to purchase TikTok, is a donor to the Tony Blair Institute. Mr. Blair additionally turned an adviser to JP Morgan Chase, a financial institution that, as reported by journalist Jonathan Cook, benefited massively from not less than one main deal brokered by Mr. Blair in his capability as West Asia envoy. According to Mr. Cook, Mr. Blair acquired Israel to open up West Bank’s airwaves for a Palestinian cellphone firm. But the value negotiated by Mr. Blair is sort of revealing: the Palestinians needed to cease elevating the difficulty of Israeli conflict crimes on the UN.

This is the “experience of the region” that Mr. Blair brings to his newest job. It is obvious that this expertise is considered favourably by his most vital backers, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (wished by the International Criminal Court for conflict crimes), and Mr. Trump, who continues to assist and abet the genocide in Gaza. More than a century after one British politician inaugurated a settler colonial challenge in Palestine with the Balfour Declaration, Palestinians in Gaza stay mute witnesses as their destiny, and their future, is delivered into the fingers of one other, their new viceroy.

Published – October 05, 2025 01:30 am IST