John J. Metzler

UNITED NATIONS — In a world where politicians and potentates clog the media with pre-packaged sound bites, yammer with a staccato of political chatter, or drone on with endless explanations of subjects even they forgot, it’s heartening to see a former British Prime Minister act the role of statesman and sage.

Thus, after the sonorous drone of the recent UN General debate, it’s a pleasure hearing Tony Blair address key global issues with passion, verve, and dedication.

Tony Blair addressed the Security Council as part of a debate in the counter terrorism committee. The former Prime Minister recalled that the last occasion in which he spoke to the Council was in 2000, the world was still in the aftermath of the meltdown of the Cold War but just before the September 2001 terrorist attacks on America. As Blair recalled, “The mood was optimistic, the atmosphere light.”

Yet it was the global atmosphere of the post September 11^th world, which Blair addressed with a keen and poignant urgency.

“There is little disagreement now about the nature of the scourge. It is extremism based on a perversion of religious belief, a fanaticism that abuses faith to justify violence against innocent civilians.” He cited the scourge of terrorism in the Middle East, Central Asia and in many parts of Africa, “most recently the terrible events in Kenya.”

Blair stated bluntly, “Of course politics plays its part in fueling this extremism, and the extremists are adept at jumping on the back of political grievances; they use them and exploit them.” Let this writer recall that radical politicized Islam has been the foundation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the post-Shah era.

He added, “The soil in which they plant the seeds of hate, is the soil of ignorance, of warped thinking producing warped minds and in particular of a distorted and false view of religion. We will not deal with the root causes of terrorism unless we confront this fact.”

He stressed, “That is why in the 21^st century education is a security issue.” The former Prime Minister added sagely, “It is an ideology, even a cult.” He added, “we most frequently link this to extreme views found in those who claim to follow Islam, but in truth there are also extremist acts perpetrated against Muslims.”

Blair stressed, “Extremism based on religion defines those who are different as ‘the enemy’ not just their enemy but the enemy of God. So they justify killing in the name of God. This is an obscene perversion of proper religious faith.” What magnifies the problem as Blair says is, “Globalization intensifies and multiplies the extremism. The world is more connected than in any point in human history.”

While in my opinion, we now are acutely aware of conflicts and grievances in far off places, we view them 24/7 media, and we see Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations” reaffirmed in world events and not just concerning religious rifts and divides but cultural ones as well.

“People like to belong: to tribe, nation, community race or faith. Faith can give a sense of identity, ” he said.

The former Prime Minister offered advice as to what to do. “The extremists are able to organize because we are not organized. This has to change. We have to educate.” Indeed, this is precisely the plan which the young Pakistani woman, Malala Yousafzai , who was shot and nearly killed by Taliban Islamic fundamentalists, spoke of. Malala made an inspiring appeal at the UN earlier this year in favor of education, especially for women throughout Pakistan.

Blair advises, “We have to educate the next generation of young people to have an open mind, to know about ‘the other’ and through that understanding to learn to respect them as equals.”

So what to do? The Tony Blair Faith Foundation has started a series of school programs promoting cross-cultural dialogue between students aged 12-17 throughout the world. Working through a thousand schools from the USA and Canada on one hand, to Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia among others, the project has reached 50,000 young people through his Face to Faith program, a positive step forward.

As Tony Blair told the Council, “Education in the 21^st Century is a security issue. There is no better cause; nor one more urgent.”

John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for WorldTribune.com. He is the author of Transatlantic Divide ; USA/Euroland Rift (University Press, 2010).

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