LOS ANGELES, Aug 1: British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday called for a ‘complete renaissance of the global approach to tackling extremism, with as much emphasis on ‘soft power as military might.

In a keynote policy speech to be delivered to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, Mr Blair pledged to continue to work to halt hostilities in Lebanon — where he was still hopeful of a settlement — and in the wider Middle East.

“But once that has happened, we must commit ourselves to a complete renaissance of our strategy to defeat those that threaten us,” he said, according to excerpts released in advance by his office.

On the wider fight between moderates and what he called ‘reactionary Islam, Mr Blair said: “We will not win the battle against this global extremism unless we win it at the level of value as much as force, unless we show we are even-handed, fair and just in our application of those values to the world.

“In reality we are at present far away from persuading those we need to persuade that this is true.

“Unless we reappraise our strategy, unless we revitalise the broader global agenda on poverty, climate change, trade and in respect of the Middle East, bend every sinew of our will to making peace between Israel and Palestine, we will not win, and this is a battle we must win.

“There is an arc of extremism now stretching across the Middle East and touching with increasing definition countries far outside that region.

“To defeat it, we need an alliance of moderation that paints a different future in which Muslim, Jew and Christian, Arab and Western, wealthy and developing nations can make progress in peace and harmony with each other.”

Mr Blair warned that without rethinking the wider global agenda on poverty, climate change, trade and the Middle East, the battle against extremism would be lost. His official spokesman denied suggestions from reporters that his comments amounted to an admission that his policy on Iraq had failed.

The Middle East — which has dominated his four-day trip to promote British business interests on the US west coast — featured prominently in the address before an expected 2,000-strong audience. Mr Blair said that he had written a rough draft of the speech several weeks ago, and that the crisis in Lebanon had not changed its central message.

“The purpose of the provocation that began the conflict was clear,” he said, going on to apparently set out his position in favour of Israel.

“It was to create chaos, division and bloodshed to provoke retaliation by Israel, that would lead to Arab and Muslim opinion being inflamed, not against those who started the aggression but against those who responded to it.

“It’s still possible even now to come out of this crisis with a better long-term prospect for the cause of moderation in the Middle East succeeding.

“But it would be absurd not to face up to the immediate damage to that cause which has been done.”

In Washington last week Mr Blair and US President George Bush harshly criticised Iran and Syria, with Mr Blair warning that they must become ‘proper and responsible members of the international community or face ‘the risk of increasing confrontation.—AFP