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The Report: Tony Blair: Farewell to the Quartet

Tony Blair: Farewell to the Quartet

26/03/2015

BBC Radio 4 - The Report, Tony Blair: Farewell to the Quartet

As Tony Blair prepares to quit his diplomatic role in the Middle East, Simon Cox asks why.

As Tony Blair prepares to step down from his diplomatic role in the Middle East, Simon Cox asks why the former prime minister is going and what he has achieved.

Tony Blair was appointed Special Representative to the Middle East peace Quartet just hours after leaving Downing Street in June 2007. The grouping, made up of the UN, the European Union, Russia and the Unites States, tasked the former Prime Minister with trying to help the economic plight of Palestinians. The idea was that improving conditions on the ground for Palestinians would help any future political negotiations towards a two-state solution with Israel.

After nearly eight years in the role it's widely believed that Tony Blair will soon step down. In this edition of The Report, Simon Cox speaks to those who have worked closely with Mr Blair to gauge what has been achieved during that time and what he intends to do next.

The programme hears from critics who claim that Tony Blair's contracts with the Kazakhstan and Kuwaiti governments and a Saudi oil company have given the perception at least that he is not an impartial player in the Middle East.

Others claim that this is a red herring. More significant is the former Prime Minister's increasingly robust stance on what he sees as the threat posed by radical Islam. 
How will both these factors impact on any future role Mr Blair may wish to play in the region?

Presenter: Simon Cox
Producer: Hannah Barnes.

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