For millions, former British PM Tony Blair is not a household hero for beating war drums that led to the second Iraq war. But many are unaware that after realizing his blunder, Blair became a convert to champion diplomacy when he was confirmed as the Middle East envoy for the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia in 2007, a role he held for eight years.
Blair insists that he is a peacemaker first and war-monger next. In his memoir, A Journey: My Political Life (Knopf, 2010), he reminds us that as Prime Minister in 1997, he helped end a bloody 30-year regional conflict by signing the Good Friday Agreement with Northern Ireland.
