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07/03/2004: "Judgement Day"
Prime Minister Tony Blair's speech on Friday articulated with great clarity the rationale behind Britain's policy in the 'war on terror' and the balance of judgement between action and inaction. Blair explained his vision of modern international security and his doctrine to face the combined threats of Islamic extremism and the international trade of weapons of mass destruction. Unlike with the containment strategy used in the past, the agenda of the 'enemy' is not driven by a set of negotiable political demands, but by religious fanaticism - an agenda no compromise will satisfy.
The new nature of the threat requires a fundamentally different characterisation. The threat faced is not conventional. "It is a challenge of a different nature from anything the world has faced before. It is to the world's security, what globalisation is to the world's economy."
On the legitimacy of intervention under international law:
"It may well be that under international law as presently constituted, a regime can systematically brutalise and oppress its people and there is nothing anyone can do, when dialogue, diplomacy and even sanctions fail, unless it comes within the definition of a humanitarian catastrophe (though the 300,000 remains in mass graves already found in Iraq might be thought by some to be something of a catastrophe). This may be the law, but should it be?"
On interventionism and self-interest:
"We know now, if we didn't before, that our own self interest is ultimately bound up with the fate of other nations. The doctrine of international community is no longer a vision of idealism. It is a practical recognition that just as within a country, citizens who are free, well educated and prosperous tend to be responsible, to feel solidarity with a society in which they have a stake; so do nations that are free, democratic and benefiting from economic progress, tend to be stable and solid partners in the advance of humankind. The best defence of our security lies in the spread of our values."
On unilateralism:
"The UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights is a fine document. But it is strange the United Nations is so reluctant to enforce them. I understand the worry the international community has over Iraq. It worries that the US and its allies will by sheer force of their military might, do whatever they want, unilaterally and without recourse to any rule-based code or doctrine. But our worry is that if the UN - because of a political disagreement in its Councils - is paralysed, then a threat we believe is real will go unchallenged."
Blair concludes with the need for a 'broader definition of self-interest' that would place promoting human rights for all people, whereever they are, at its core. It remains to be seen whether Blair's doctrine of 'International Community' can bring about the institutional and legal changes it requires and whether he can successfully convince the 'man and woman on the street' of the imminence of the threat - using his words, "regardless of the political cost".
> Number10.gov.uk - Blair's speech on the threat of global terrorism
> BBC.CO.UK - View the speech (Real)
