British politics were transported across the Atlantic when Roger Tomkys, the former ambassador for Great Britain to Syria and Bahrain, discussed British foreign policy post-9/11.
He addressed issues including Prime Minister Tony Blair's alliance with President George W. Bush, the recent suicide of British civil servant and scientist David Kelly, the British public's post-war distrust of their government and the future of Iraq.
Since Sept.11, the British public has become distraught over the amount of control Blair's chief deputy, Alistair Campbell, has on the information flowing from government to the press, Tomkys said.
In the same vein, "It is my belief that [Kelly] was very uneasy with the intelligence material that was used to demonstrate to the British public the imminent threat of weapons of mass destruction, the existence of which he was doubtful," Tomkys said. "A journalist made more of it than he should have."
Caught between the government and the press, Kelly was stuck, Tomkys said, adding that it was "awful for the government to have taken [such] callous action with their servant."
Tomkys emphasized "some beneficial effects" of the war in Iraq -- notably the now widely held belief inside the Iranian and Syrian governments that they are vulnerable to military action from the United States if they harbor terrorists.
Blair's political survival, Tomkys said, is largely a matter of the success of the rebuilding operations and the quickness of British and American withdrawal from Iraq.
The war has already proven damaging to the Blair government, causing the resignation of two cabinet ministers, including the foreign secretary. It is possible that the defense minister may soon also resign over controversy surrounding the war, according to Tomkys.
He also said that he believed Blair knew Bush was headed to war, and decided to side with Bush in order to have a hand in shaping policy.
According to Tomkys, Blair sought to use his position to slow down the United States' march to war, and with the conclusion of the war, bring attention to the region's other glaring problem -- the question of a Palestinian state.
Those who attended the lecture -- which was held in the Penn Center for the Humanities -- seemed enthusiastic about the talk.
"I found it insightful having lived in Britain during the Kelly affair," Wharton exchange student Pieter Lekkerkerk said.
English graduate student John Connor likewise found the lecture "very expert and to the point."
When asked if a successfully democratized Iraq could be a catalyst for change in the Middle East, Tomkys was cautiously optimistic.
In a region mired in turmoil, "one has to believe that one bit of really good news would turn the scales," Tomkys said. "No one knows if one country could turn the scales, but we've got to hope."
