British Prime Minister Tony Blair's foreign policy ambitions have stalled
because he is unable to exert real influence on the White House - despite offering the United States close to a decade of unflinching support, according to a study released Tuesday by a leading think tank.

Blair, aiming to jump-start the Middle East peace process on a regional tour, had overestimated his political capital in Washington, said Victor Bulmer-Thomas, outgoing director of London's Chatham House.

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"The root failure of Tony Blair's foreign policy has been its inability to influence the Bush administration in any significant way despite the sacrifice - military, political and financial - that the United Kingdom has made...Blair has learnt the hard way that loyalty in international politics counts for very little." said the report.

The paper reflects comments last month by U.S. State Department analyst Kendall Myers, who told an audience in Washington that Britain's relationship with the White House was "totally
one-sided."

Britain had no leverage over U.S. foreign policy, Myers said during an academic seminar at Johns Hopkins University. "We typically ignore them and take no notice - it's a sad business," he said.

The U.S. State Department later repudiated the comments. They were "just plain wrong," deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.

Bulmer-Thomas said Blair's term in office would be defined by the "terrible mistake" of relying on flawed intelligence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as a justification for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"This was without a shadow of doubt the defining moment of Blair's foreign policy - indeed, the defining moment of his whole premiership. It will shape his legacy - for better or for worse - for many years to come," the paper said.

It paper also said that Blair had lost standing with European partners over his support for the Iraq invasion, but in turn had failed to win any increased influence over the White House.

Europe minister Geoff Hoon, the defense secretary during the 2003 invasion, said earlier this month that Blair had failed in attempts to persuade the United States not to disband the Iraqi army following the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Blair's call for engagement with Iran and Syria to assist Iraq - provided Damascus and Tehran renounce support for terrorism - had also been seemingly rejected by the U.S., Britain's third party Liberal Democrats said.

"The slavish support of the Bush administration which led to the disastrous involvement in Iraq, coupled with a lukewarm approach to Europe, have deeply damaged Britain's reputation, influence and credibility," Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell said.

Blair, elected in 1997 and due to stand down by September 2007, deserved praise for his championing of action on climate change and backing of Turkey's bid for membership of the European Union, the report said.

But he was guilty of an "unforgivable failure" to predict a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan following the 2001 invasion, Bulmer-Thomas said.