Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke to SMU and area high school students about global change yesterday afternoon at the Hart Global Leaders Forum in McFarlin Auditorium. (John Schreiber)
While rain poured outside of McFarlin Auditorium in 40-degree weather, a crowd of high school and college students, parents, professors and community delegates packed inside to welcome former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his second of two lectures.
At 10:30 a.m., the doors opened to a flood of people, and 35 minutes later McFarlin was packed. The middle section of the floor seats was reserved for the Hart Global Leaders Students, which are “selected high school students from all over the Metroplex given the opportunity to interact with national and international leaders in government, business, science and the media,” as described in the event program.
Soon thereafter, President R. Gerald Turner took the stage and introduced Blair as “the political leader that is the head and face of the Queen’s government.” Blair stepped to the podium, neatly dressed in a gray suit that matched his polished hair, contrasted by his baby pink tie. He beamed at the crowd.
The audience of 2,300 welcomed Blair with a 20-second standing After the uproar of applause gradually died down, Blair soothed the energized crowd with a joke. “It’s quite difficult to find a decent cup of tea here,” humored Blair, “…and perhaps that’s due to the Boston Tea Party.”
Continuing on with his witty tone, Blair compared today’s college students to those of his time. “The single biggest thing is the pixel-scaled intensity of change. It’s so dramatic, so fundamental. Nowadays, college students are so respectable. Once, my youngest child saw a college photo of me and said, ‘Dad, whatever we [your children] do, we’re not going to embarrass you as much as you were embarrassed in that picture.'” Once again, the crowd responded in a tumult of laughter.
After calming the once-anxious audience and drawing their attention, Blair proceeded to more serious matters.
“The world is becoming more interdependent. The problems we’re facing cannot be faced by one nation alone,” stated Blair. “The center of gravity and economy is shifting eastwards. For example, the biggest power in Africa right now is China. China is putting more money in Africa than any other nation.
“Even politics itself is changing. There is a new political division. We have gone from right and left to open and close divisions. Now people are either saying, ‘Yeah, I’m open for that. I’m up for that,’ or, ‘No, we’re going to look out for ourselves instead.’
“But truly, we had to build a coalition of nations and leaders. I don’t think being ‘closed’ is a long-term option. It doesn’t really matter what we want to do or don’t want to do, because problems will not be dealt with unless we’re open to them.”
Blair continued on to articulate his thematic point: “Our only option is to build a global coalition based on global values that will persuade everyone, not only ourselves. We have to have a basis upon which people can come behind us, engage and persuade to get wherever we need to be.
“Global values are freedom and democracy, but these can not persuade the rest of the world. We must add justice. Where there is a human being living not with equality, it is our responsibility to fulfill that need. For example, when helping with the AIDS issue in Africa, that is out of moral obligation. But we have to be able to show that we care for people other than ourselves.”
After Blair’s speech, students from all over the auditorium stepped to the microphones to ask questions. Of all the questions asked, the last one was deemed by Blair to be “an intellectual and correct question.” An SMU English major asked Blair, “How can we better affect the root causes that lead to terrorism?”
Blair responded, “I don’t think ultimate defeat of terrorism will come from military means alone. We must have a value system.
“We have got to be prepared to help reform these countries’ educating system: what people are taught in the schools and mosques. We have to engage in a very precise, detailed way with those countries’ ways. We must put as much money and energy as we do in the military side. Our middle ground must be justice.
“We must shape programs of the world to invite people behind us. If not, the people against us will have the opportunity to exploit that alienation.”
After Blair’s concluding sentence, the crowd again gave a standing ovation.
The theme of his speech was global coalition, and he enunciated the importance of a foundation of values. He admitted that he is an optimist and invited everyone in the crowd, specifically the young people, to take the same approach to life. He boasted in the young generation, stating that “he is the past of the politics, and you guys are the future.”
He further proclaimed that “in the new world, idealism is the new realism. We can’t afford until the world had passed us by; the moment is now!” Upon saying that, a phone rang. Blair looked, pointed in the direction where the noise came from, smiled and said, “I guess that’s my time’s up!”
