Tony Blair Warns “Fragile” Western Democracies Are In “Peril”
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Dec 6, 2016
A few days ago we wrote an article asking how stable the world’s democracies really were and noted the opinion of at least one Harvard historian who saw extreme risk related to the global wave of anti-establishment sentiment (see “How Stable Are The World’s Democracies? – ‘Warning Signs Are Flashing Red'”). Apparently Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, agrees that the political upheaval from Brexit to Trump to the collapse of the Italian government on Sunday signal the most dangerous time for Western democracies in decades.
Per the USA Today, in speaking to a group of business leaders at the No Labels conference, Blair noted being startled by the number of people “longing” for an authoritarian leader saying “it’s amazing how many people you will find who will reference a style
of leadership of (Russian) President Putin in a positive way.”
“It does feel perilous, actually, because I think there are decisions that are being taken of vast moment in circumstances where systems are fragile,” he told Capital Download on Monday. “And that is troubling.”
Of particular concern to him is a “longing” for an authoritarian leader.
“It’s amazing how many people you will find who will reference a style of leadership of (Russian) President Putin in a positive way,” he told USA TODAY’s weekly video newsmaker series. “I think people want their country moving and they think that if the present system is not moving it, and not making the changes that they want to see, then maybe someone who just says, ‘I don’t care what anyone thinks; I’m just going to go for it, and this is what I’m going to do’ — that has a certain attraction.
“If the center isn’t a place of strength and vitality, and it looks kind of flabby and just managing the status quo, then you’re at risk of someone coming along and doing that.”
The Rest…HERE
