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The Tony Blair Institute (TBI), commonly known by its trade name the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, is a non-profit organisation set up by former UK Prime MinisterTony Blair.[6][7]
The organization has received funding from authoritarian regimes in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.[8][9]
Agenda
The organisation is not a political party, but it is heavily influenced by the ideology and personal style of Tony Blair.[10]
Blair launched the Institute as a "new policy platform to refill the wide open space in the middle of politics" aimed at combating a "frightening authoritarian populism" that he says is undermining the West's belief in democracy. He has said the organisation will focus on re-energising the centre ground, African governance and Middle East policy, and fighting religious extremism.[11]
In an interview with The Guardian on 17 March 2017, the former prime minister said his Institute for Global Change was more than a think tank, since it would aim to arm front-rank politicians with strategies and policies to rebuild the centre, and combat populism caused by a cultural and economic revolt against the effects of globalisation. He said:
Labour's "essential duty" was to oppose Brexit at any cost, keeping open an option that allows the British people to think again if they dislike the deal agreed by Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May.[11]
It was not his intention to create a movement like the En Marche! vehicle created by president Emmanuel Macron in France, but instead to help create a set of policies to address voters' anxieties caused by globalisation, including stagnating incomes and migration.[11]
Policy areas
The Tony Blair Institute believes that extremism, governance, the Middle East and the fight against populism are all interconnected. For example, they say that countries will not develop where extremism flourishes. Without peace in the Middle East, grievances will continue to fester, and conflict will spill-over to other countries. Those seeking refuge have also been used by populists to whip up anger in the West – and, crucially, they say that the centre-ground has to deal with these issues and renew a politics of hope and optimism, rejecting fear and pessimism.[7]
Renewing the Centre Ground
Headed by German-American political scientist Yascha Mounk, a lecturer at Harvard, they work to revitalise the centre ground of politics and equip today’s leaders to combat the rise of false populism. Focusing on the big policy challenges that globalisation presents, they aim to combat populism and revitalise the centre ground through a corpus of new policy thinking.[12]
Co-existence
They work to promote co-existence and counter extremism by tackling the ideology behind violence, not just the violence itself, and focusing on responses to extremism that first seek to understand the underlying ideology then addressing it by disrupting its spread, reducing its appeal, and building resilience to its messaging.[13]
One of their initiatives to promote co-existence is an education programme called Generation Global.[14] The programme claims to promote intercultural understanding organising dialogue activities for young people.
Middle East
They engage with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and key officials, influential regional actors, diplomatic missions and multinational institutions, to inform and guide thinking and decision-making. Developing and advocating for practical recommendations on the peace process and to improve the economic, political and humanitarian realities on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza. The team also focuses on efforts aimed at allowing for renewed and credible discussions between the Palestinian and Israeli governments, including on pressing issues related to the economic and fiscal stability of the Palestinian Authority, as well as working with the sides on ideas to boost the Palestinian economy.[7]
The Tony Blair Institute warned of growing Iranian threat. According to The Tony Blair Institute: "The totalitarian and divisive worldview born from the 1979 Iranian Revolution… has been a driving force of instability and violence for years. Unless Western leaders can learn the lessons from the 1979 revolution, the threat Iran poses will continue to grow."[15]
Governance
Their governance work focuses on working with governments and leaders of fragile, developing and emerging states to enhance their effectiveness. They help governments and leaders make their vision for development a reality. Providing analysis, commentary and lessons from their work with governments in fragile, developing and emerging states.[16]
The Tony Blair Institute has projects in 14 African countries, whose combined population exceeds 460 million. Their governance work is primarily programmatic. Tony Blair provides advice to African leaders with Tony Blair Institute advisers working in governments, helping them implement their own visions for development.[7]
Funding
Blair gave the reserves of his former business to provide the seed funding for his new Institute.[17] On 21 July 2018, it was reported by The Telegraph that Blair had signed a deal worth £9,000,000 with Saudi Arabia.[18] The article quotes a spokesperson saying that, while the Institute was under no duty to disclose donors or donations, they confirmed receiving a donation from Media Investment Ltd, a subsidiary of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group registered in Guernsey, to fund their work for modernisation and reform working for a regional solution to the peace process, as well as on governance in Africa and promoting religious co-existence.[19] The Tony Blair Institute confirmed that it had received donations from the U.S. State Department and Saudi Arabia.[8]
In 2024, the Tony Blair Institute provided paid work for the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan when Azerbaijan hosted the COP29 conference.[9]
Legacy organisations
On 1 December 2016, Blair announced that ‘The Africa Governance Initiative’; ‘The Tony Blair Faith Foundation’; and his ‘Initiative for the Middle East’ would all become part of the Tony Blair Institute, saying: “Over the past nine years we have built a family of organisations which together employ nearly 200 people; have worked in over 30 countries; and have produced some real and lasting achievements. I am very proud of the commitment and impact of the people I have had the privilege to work with.”[20]
Criticism
The TBI was accused of pursuing a neoliberal agenda and serving as an ideological vehicle for Tony Blair. Tony Blair's possible pursuit of personal interests, the possible influence of private donors and the cooperation with authoritarian governments such as Rwanda and Saudi Arabia were also criticized.[21] The left wing of the British Labour Party complained about the TBI's close contacts to party leader Keir Starmer and Tony Blair's large influence on him. The Guardian described Blair as more powerful in 2023 than during his time as Prime Minister.[22]
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