Less than a month after stepping down as British prime minister, Tony Blair has begun his new job as top envoy for the Middle East quartet of the U.S., Russia, European Union and U.N. Blair’s role will be limited to imposing reforms on the Palestinian government. He spoke Thursday at a meeting in Portugal.

Tony Blair: “It is imperative that we succeed, and I am prepared to try to help in whatever way I can. And I think that in the end that is the most important attitude for me to carry into this job, and I also think that there is a real will and desire if people can find the right way forward to get to that two-state solution that people want, and just imagine for a moment, if this process were moving forward again, just think how much hope there will be.”

The Bush administration has already announced Blair will make no effort to end Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip or curb its settlement growth in the West Bank, nor try to push through an agreement on a final-status peace deal. Blair’s first announcement was to reiterate the Quartet would have no involvement with Hamas, the winners of last year’s Palestinian elections.