To the charge that this idea is actually old-fashioned liberal imperialism updated for the post-Cold War world, Blair has consistently replied that what he called for in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Iraq are wars of “values, not interests.” In his more petulant moments, he has asked why so many of those who saw no harm in NATO undermining Milosevic adamantly opposed the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
有人指责这一观点实际上是过时了的自由帝国主义针对冷战后的世界衍生出的新版，布莱尔对此的一贯回应是：他在科索沃，塞拉利昂和伊拉克倡导的是“价值观而非利益”之战。脾气不好时，他曾问道为什么有这么多人没有对北约削弱米洛舍维奇感到不妥，但是却如此坚持不懈地反对将萨达姆·侯赛因赶下台。