Blair's legacy

In an essay in the economist, Tony Blair reflects on the lessons he has learned as prime minister.  He insists on placing the war in Iraq in the same category as those in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.  They were, he tells us, underpinned by a policy of intervention that is values-based.  But Iraq was never about values, it was about security and weapons of mass destruction.  Sadly for Mr Blair, he cannot re-write history to tidy up his legacy.

Furthermore, a key theme in Mr Blair's homily is freedom, yet he is the champion of laws which will seriously erode civil liberty in Britain.

Lawyers, security experts, and the man in the street know these measures are wrong headed. But Mr. Blair no longer needs advice, and after all, we know he will "do what he thinks is right".  For the benefit of democracy, Mr Blair urges people to "open it all up" while his government have diluted their own provisions for Freedom of Information.  Famously Blair's favourite place for taking key decisions was his sofa, not the cabinet table. And his news-managed, presidential style is the opposite of openness.

Finally, there is something pitiful in Mr. Blair's legacy tour.  Is it that he wasn't quite ready to go and feels he had more to do, a kind of wounded ego that feels its time was cut short because people simply didn't understand? Or is he asking world leaders "remember me, I was a friend of your country"?

Either way, the world of international politics is a fickle, unforgiving place and has already moved into an era called post-Blair.  For his own sake, the pity is that he didn't make a swift and graceful exit.