Coherent..

Sir Tony Blair has issued a rallying call to Western nations to come together to develop a coherent strategy to counter the rise of China as “the world’s second superpower”.

Delivering the annual Ditchley lecture the former prime minister called for a policy towards Beijing of “strength plus engagement” as he warned the era of Western political and economic dominance was coming to an end.

He said Western powers needed to increase their defense spending in order to maintain their military superiority while extending their “soft power” by building ties with developing nations.

“The biggest geo-political change of this century will come from China not Russia,” he said. The world is going to be at least bi-polar and possibly multi-polar.

With China – as well as countries such as Russia, Turkey and Iran – pouring resources into the developing world while building strong defense and political links, Sir Tony said it was essential the West did not forget the importance of soft power.

We are going to need all the countries that we Sanctioned including Russia. Just a thought.