Tony Blair's empire mixes business and philanthropy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jun/21/tony-blair-empire-business-philanthropy

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Tony Blair's Middle East post was just the first step in building up an empire that now encompasses six areas and ensures that the former prime minister spends most of his life criss-crossing the globe in a chartered private jet.

Friends say one reason, among many many others, explains Blair's drive. He believes an unfortunate rule means leaders run out of political capital just as they have mastered the challenge of governing, and that he was forced out of office by Gordon Brown's supporters while he still had much to offer. "Tony basically thinks he should still be prime minister and is convinced he towers over his two successors," one ally said.

Blair insists he is not driven by vanity. He was keen to work as the Quartet's envoy, which has helped him recover some of his reputation in the Arab world after the Iraq war, because he has believed for years that extremism will never be defeated until the Israel/Palestine dispute is resolved.

The former prime minister goes to great lengths to ensure there is a separation between his work for the Quartet and the most controversial part of what he calls his "portfolio" – earning millions of pounds advising governments through Tony Blair Associates. He does no business in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt or Jordan.

But these self-imposed rules leave plenty of scope to do business in the Gulf, where Blair's influence is enhanced as the Quartet's envoy. He is a regular visitor to Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, where the prime minister, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Muhammad al-Thani, is rapidly emerging as a major player in the Middle East.

Blair's business interests 2,000 miles to the north-east of the Gulf – in the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan – have prompted some of the strongest criticism of his work in recent years. Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been president since Kazakhstan's last days in the USSR, won the presidential election in 2011 with 95% of the vote, prompting criticism from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The former prime minister defended his work in Kazakhstan, saying he offered important advice on judicial reform and local government. "The purpose of this is not to make money, it's to make a difference," he told the FT.

Blair uses such earnings to subsidise his philanthropic work in four areas. These are the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which promotes dialogue among faiths; the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, which continues the work of his Commission for Africa set up before Britain's G8 presidency in 2005; the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, which helps aspiring young sportspeople in the north-east of England, where he served as an MP for 24 years; and Breaking the Deadlock, a foundation that tackles climate change.

But his earnings also fund a prime ministerial lifestyle. There is the house in Connaught Square, London, where properties now sell for £6.5m and his own country retreat, the 17th-century South Pavilion of Wotton House in Buckinghamshire, which was once owned by the late Sir John Gielgud.

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