Suchergebnisse

Presents a speech given by former English PM Tony Blaire, addressed to the John C. Whitehead School in February 2009. Blaire shares first his experiences coming into Downing Street on his first day in office, followed by an extensive perusal of the world today from his vantage point. The economic world is in great distress, given that so little is understood, particularly about courses of action to be taken. What is certain is that the emerging markets, particularly the BRIC nations must continue to back America and Europe lest the entire world economy falls. The economy and environment are strongly tied together, particularly if clean and renewable energies sources are implemented. However, the countries with emerging markets, particularly China, must also work towards reducing emissions and other pollutants. The development of Islam throughout the world is another concern, which could erupt in more wars, or be dealt by a combination of military and diplomatic means. Adapted from the source document.

The resurgence of political Islam and the endurance of broad religious belief in the most modern of societies—America—has created a crisis of faith among secularists. If modernity no longer implies a secular outlook, and secularism, by definition, cannot generate any values beyond an indifferent tolerance of all belief, what role will religion play in the 21st century?In an interesting confluence of reflection, Jürgen Habermas, one of Europe's leading secular liberal thinkers, argues that secular citizens must be open to religious influence, especially since the very identity of Western culture is rooted in Judeo‐Christian values. In his political afterlife, Tony Blair has converted to Catholicism and established a Faith Foundation to press for religious literacy because "you can't understand the modern world unless you understand the importance of religious faith."Similarly, when Pope Benedict XVI visited secular France in September, President Nicholas Sarkozy scandalized the lay establishment by saying, like Habermas, that "rejecting a dialogue with religion would be a cultural and intellectual error." He called for "a positive secularism that debates, respects and includes, not a secularism that rejects."Despite the flurry of controversy over a recent spate of books extolling the virtues of atheism in the wake of Islamist terrorism, the more interesting issue by far is the emergence of post‐secular modernity.

This transcript of Tony Blair's 'media' speech reveals how harsh he feels the media coverage of his tenure as Prime Minister & of government as a whole has been, even as he says this speech is not a response to "the latest whacking from bits of the media," nor a "whine about how unfair it all is," nor "a complaint." While a free media is a vital part of a free society, another part of freedom is to be able to comment on the media, & that is what he is doing. Without placing blame, he contends that "the relationship between politics, public life, & the media is changing as a result of the changing context of communication in which we all operate . [& that] this change is seriously adverse to the way public life is conducted." It is time to debate the most important question of how the public can be most accurately informed, which is the joint responsibility of government in communicating with the media & the media communicating with the public. A question & answer session ensues between Reuters Editor in Chief David Schlesinger, Blair, & members of the audience. In closing, Blair quotes a leading foreign media magnate whom he had asked "What do you really think of British journalism?" The response was "At its best it's the best, & at its worst it's the worst," which Blair finds "probably reasonably accurate.". S. Stanton