Former British prime minister Tony Blair urged Atlantic leaders to stand up for their shared value of freedom around the world, whether in Europe, the Middle East or Africa. In doing so, he argued, “we must combine hard and soft power.” While military means will be necessary, “It is a battle of ideas. To win, we must persuade people of what we stand for and why; and we must do so in a way that answers their concerns as well as our own.”

Blair, making remarks upon receiving the Atlantic Council of the United States’ 2008 Distinguished International Leader Award, told a star-studded audience that NATO is just as vital now as during the Cold War. “It was never, and is not now, an alliance only of interests. It was and is an alliance of conviction.”

That conviction is to a set of shared values. “We, in the West, don’t own the idea of freedom. We didn’t fight for it because of the happenstance of birth in Europe or America. It is there, in the DNA of humankind. It is universal in nature and appeal. We developed it but we didn’t invent it.”

The chief threat to those values, Blair contends, come from Islamist extremism, “a total perversion of the true faith of Islam.” The Middle East is a “region in transition” and the West will have a role in deciding “in which direction will it travel?” This is “a battle of ideas” that “can’t be won by military or security means alone.”

“Then, wider than this, we have to work with the modern and moderate voices within Islam to help them counter the extremism and show how faith in Islam is supremely consistent with engagement in the twenty first century, economically, politically, and culturally.” At the same time, we must demonstrate our commitment to freedom by standing strong against the forces of extremism in Afghanistan and Darfur and by demonstrating a commitment to fair treatment for the people of Palestine.

Transcript of Mr. Blair's Remarks

For questions about the Annual Awards Dinner please email Anna Eliasson Schamis, Vice President, Development and External Relations, at  aeliasson@acus.org.