Tony Blair: This Is 'The Toughest Time to Be a Leader'

During his tenure as Great Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair sent troops into wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.

But while his 10 years in office—1997 to 2007—were volatile ones, 2013 could prove to be "the toughest time to be a leader," Blair told students at Lafayette College Monday afternoon.

Today's leaders need to adapt to a fast-changing world, Blair said, one where crises won't come sequentially.

For example, British and American leaders are dealing with both continued unrest in the Middle East, as well as fallout from the 2008 financial meltdown, Blair said.

“Your country and my country are tired of intervention," in the Middle East, Blair said, but added that some level of engagement is "absolutely fundamental."

Since leaving office, Blair has gone to work the Quartet, a group whose aim is to "mediate Middle East peace negotiations and to support Palestinian economic development and institution-building in preparation for eventual statehood."

He said that "evolution" is preferable to "revolution" in the Middle East, but the status quo can't stand.

"The issue with revolutions is never where they begin but where they end," Blair said.

Violence in Syria, for example, has killed as many people—proportionally—as have died since the invasion of Iraq 10 years ago.

His speech had a few humorous moments, such as his description of his first meeting with the queen, the way Americans tell him "I did you like you in that movie," and a run-in last weekend in Jerusalem with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who told Blair he should visit his home state.

Blair told him he was headed there this week, and left wondering if maybe he had given Casey a false sense of his powers of persuasion.

Blair's talk was the college's annual Lives of Liberty Lecture, timed this year to coincide with a stronger focus on international studies at the school. He is one of three major world figures speaking at the school in April.

Jane Goodall, the world's most famous primatologist, is giving a talk Thursday evening, while former President Jimmy Carter is scheduled to give an address April 22.