Power Struggle

MIGUEL RIOPA/AP/GETTY IMAGES

ON THEIR OWN: Zapatero, right, with German Chancellor Schröder, wants the E.U. to take on superpower status

Call it Tony Blair's fondest dream — the hope that George W. Bush will repay the British Prime Minister's loyalty by throwing America's weight behind the search for Israeli-Palestinian peace. A grand gesture, such as the appointment of a special envoy, would help Blair at home, where the biggest obstacle to re-election next year isn't his moribund Conservative opposition but his own party's scorn for his unswerving allegiance to Bush's agenda. The gesture would also help rehabilitate Blair in Europe, where his basic argument — that by staying close to Bush he boosts the European Union's influence...

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