But for selfish reasons neither the military who took over from Mubarak in 2011 nor Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood when it was in power, pursued this course of action.
Gordon Brown, Mr Blair's political partner as chancellor of the exchequer and then his successor in Number 10, is no champion of Whitehall either.Others say the problem is the growing centralisation of power, pursued by Margaret Thatcher (in office when the BBC's popular "Yes Minister" comedy series first pitted wily civil servants against floundering politicians) and accelerated under Labour.
With the control of gas pipelines, they wrote, "Russia is back as a revisionist power pursuing a 19th-century agenda with 21st-century tactics".
However, speaking on Wednesday, the Prime Minister promised an "all-out assault on poverty" and said he would dedicate his final five years in power pursuing the values of "freedom, democracy and equality" to fight the underlying social problems of poverty, lack of opportunity, discrimination and extremism that he said were holding the UK back.
India is another emerging power pursuing a similar path - with an ex-Soviet carrier being modified for the Indian Navy, and work already under way on a first home-built vessel as well.
After all, other European colonial powers pursued similar policies over longer periods across more of the globe.
This is another way of describing an activist, interventionist foreign policy of the sort that a great imperial power pursues to protect its interests and nip opposition in the bud.
But some Milberg Weiss cases paint a picture of a firm that abuses its power, pursues vendettas, conspires with short-sellers and buys influence among Democratic politicians.
Written in December 2000, when Californian businesses and households were suffering widespread power shortages, the documents show how Enron and other energy firms profited from the deficiencies of California's "liberalised" power market.Traders pursued two broad strategies.
And in his first years in power, he pursued that approach, retaking Yukos Oil, for instance, which was mostly absorbed into Rosneft.
As Duterte has concentrated power and pursued his policies, he has also targeted critics and members of the opposition.
