Tony Blair’s willingness to take millions of dollars in consultancy fees from some of the world’s most repressive regimes is inspired by an intense jealousy of Bill Clinton, according to the author of the first forensic account of his post-prime ministerial career.
For the past eight years, Blair has worked as a Middle East peace envoy representing the U.S., Europe, Russia, and the United Nations, but a book examining his approach to the role claims he only spends three days a month at his Jerusalem offices in between lucrative trips to undemocratic foreign capitals where he is able to command vast fees for dispensing advice. Blair’s oil-rich clients reportedly include the ruling families of Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, where freedom of speech is systematically repressed, and the president of Kazakhstan, where Human Rights Watch claims freedom of assembly, speech and religion are severely limited and torture is commonplace.
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