Sand in the wheels, or oiling the wheels, of international finance? : New Labour's appeal to a 'new Bretton Woods'

Tony Blair’s political instinct typically is to associate himself only with the future. As such, his explicit appeal to ‘the past’ in his references to New Labour’s desire to establish a “new Bretton Woods” is sufficient in itself to arouse some degree of analytical curiosity (see Blair 1998a). The fact that this appeal was made specifically in relation to Bretton Woods is even more interesting. The resonant image of the international economic context established by the original Bretton Woods agreements invokes a style and content of policy-making which Tony Blair typically dismisses as neither economically nor politically consistent with his preferred vision of the future (see Blair 2000c, 2001b)

La diplomacia pública y el efecto Blair

Tony Blair afecta de manera significativa al modo en que son percibidos Gran Bretaña y los británicos modernos. Esto, a su vez, tiene consecuencias importantes para las relaciones exteriores, el turismo y la entrada de inversiones. En los ocho años que han transcurrido desde que Tony Blair fuera elegido Primer Ministro, podría decirse que éste se ha convertido en un dirigente británico tan internacionalmente reconocible como sus célebres predecesores, Winston Churchill y Margaret Thatcher. Para muchas personas de todo el mundo Blair es el británico moderno por antonomasia; hombre de familia carismático y con éxito profesional, Blair también es un estadista internacional y un visionario de centro-izquierda que, al menos según lo que vemos en nuestros televisores, se codea sin problemas con los ricos, famosos y glamorosos. En una serie de encuestas realizadas por el British Council en 1999 y 2000, Tony Blair encabezaba una lista de celebridades británicas y personalidades mundiales en términos de reconocimiento del nombre, reconocimiento como personalidad británica y como modelo de conducta británico positivo. Al igual que otros “iconos” nacionales modernos, tales como la Reina o David Beckham, Blair afecta de manera significativa al modo en que son percibidos Gran Bretaña y los británicos modernos. Esto, a su vez, tiene consecuencias importantes para las relaciones exteriores, el turismo y la entrada de inversiones. Claro está que Tony Blair no es único a este respecto. La globalización de las comunicaciones implica que los líderes nacionales representan cada vez más un papel no sólo de “formuladores de políticas en jefe” sino de “embajadores culturales”. Cuando las personas de todo el mundo piensan en Estados Unidos piensan en George W. Bush, cuando piensan en Pakistán piensan en Pervez Musharraf, y cuando piensan en Francia piensan en Jacques Chirac. Nunca antes habían tenido tanta influencia los dirigentes nacionales en el modo en que tanto sus países como sus pueblos son percibidos en todo el mundo. En este contexto, el presente artículo analiza brevemente el grado en que Tony Blair se ha convertido en un icono mundial y trata de entender las consecuencias que esto tiene para Gran Bretaña, la diplomacia pública británica y las estrategias de relaciones culturales y comunicaciones de otros Estados. ¿Cómo y por qué ha pasado Tony Blair a ser un personaje tan bien reconocido? ¿Por qué, y en qué medida, supone Blair una baza de diplomacia pública? ¿Pueden, y deben, otros dirigentes nacionales intentar reproducir la “marca” Blair

The State and Civil Liberties in the Post 9-11 World

About the book: Developments in British Politics 8 continues its tradition of providing accessible state-of-the-art coverage, but with a new editorial team and a new set of chapters by leading authorities. A new feature is a set of chapters providing wide ranging analysis of key debates and thoughts about British politics after Tony Blair

Britain and Europe: Post Blair\u27s Election and Pre-Single Currency

This Essay traces the history of Britain\u27s relations with the European Community, now the European Union. It concludes that the Single Currency is key to all future activities of the European Union, as well as to Tony Blair\u27s ability to escape from the \u27mishandling of Europe\u27 curse which has bedeviled so many British premierships

Fight! Fight!

Does the Labour Party, the public or the media want someone substantial to stand against Gordon Brown when Tony Blair leaves Downing Street this summer

UK-Russia Political Relations

A complex range of issues has undermined high level relations between the UK and Russia in recent years, many of which remain unresolved. Four stand out. First, many of the negative elements souring UK-Russian relations have come about because, despite formal declarations and engagement within multilateral fora such as the EU-Russian partnership framework and the G8, there has increasingly been a focus on bilateral elements in the relationship. Second, decreasing unity on the part of ‘the West’ in the early years of the 21st century has encouraged differentiation in Russia’s foreign policy towards western powers and has intensified competition between European powers with regard to good relations with Russia. Despite frequent arguments by some observers that the era of the nation state is gone and the era of globalisation is here, this is far from the case in Putin’s foreign policy and in UK-Russian relations. Third, the personal impact of Prime Minister Tony Blair as a key interlocutor declined since the beginning of the century. When President Putin came to power in 2000, Tony Blair was seen by many as a man of the future as opposed to the other leaders of key western powers who seemed to be on their way out. Six years later, however, Blair was nearing the end of his prime ministership, there were new leaders in Europe, and any role for Prime Minister Blair as a bridge between Russia and the United States was less necessary. Fourth, and related to the above, there are serious “value” differences between the UK and Russia, for example, over the independence of important elements of non-governmental society, such as the judiciary and big business. The importance of the political relationship between Britain and Russia as a whole, has decreased notably in recent years. This will not remain the case for ever, and even as it has occurred, mutual interests and obligations have continued to keep formal contacts and cooperation on many levels positive

Hacia otras relaciones transatlánticas

El escenario después de la cumbre de las Azores difícilmente puede ser más preocupante: el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, al que George W. Bush acusa de no haber estado "a la altura de su responsabilidad", se ha resquebrajado; la Unión Europea, pese a que Jacques Chirac diga que renacerá de la crisis, se ha cuarteado y la brecha atlántica se ha ensanchado. Pocas preguerras han destrozado tanto. George W. Bush, Tony Blair, José María Aznar y José Manuel Durao Barroso, el anfitrión de la cumbre, lanzaron en las Azores algo más que un ultimátum a Sadam Husein. Pocas preguerras han destrozado tanto como ésta que ahora se vive contra Irak. George W. Bush, Tony Blair, José María Aznar y José Manuel Durao Barroso, el anfitrión de la cumbre, lanzaron en las Azores algo más que un ultimátum a Sadam Husein. De la cumbre de las Azores ha surgido una nueva visión para ordenar el mundo. Tony Blair ya lo sentenció el 18 de marzo, cuando luchaba a brazo partido por su vida política en la Cámara de los Comunes. "Este conflicto, más que el destino de Irak, determinará la forma en que el mundo afrontará los desafíos del siglo XXI y la forma en que Estados Unidos se relacionará con el mundo"

The Missing Link? Zapatero, Blair and the Future of Europe

José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero will meet Tony Blair in London next week to discuss the future of the European Union (EU) and ways in which they can improve the bi-lateral relationship between London and Madrid. Tony Blair outlined an ambitious agenda for the current British presidency of the EU that will re-open debates about the economy, social protection and how the Union can respond better to the needs of its people. Blair has already been praised in some quarters for providing a wide-ranging set of proposals but he lacks a sufficient number of firm allies amongst other member states. Some are suspicious of the Prime Minister and Britain’s historical role within the EU whilst others are too weakened by domestic problems to offer any real support. The Spanish Prime Minister, on the other hand, has already demonstrated a commitment to the European ideal since taking office just over a year ago. Like Blair, he is a young social democrat with a firm electoral base and is implementing domestic policies that in many ways resemble those of New Labour in Britain. Zapatero and Blair can play complementary roles in the current European debate and a firm alliance between them could have benefits for both leaders and the EU. But this will only be possible if they can agree to put past differences behind them

Did Labour fundamentally change Britain in its thirteen years of power? Hardly at all

The ‘new Labour’ governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown altered the societal landscape in the UK. But did they fundamentally change Britain? In a new book, David Walker and Polly Toynbee take an in-depth and balanced look at the achievements of the Labour project. There were some policy successes, and the authors give Labour 6 out of 10 for these. Yet the party lacked an overall vision or narrative, and so squandered its opportunity to push the UK in a more social democratic directio

January 17, 2009: The Tony Blair Faith Foundation

Blog post, “The Tony Blair Faith Foundation“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America