Series
The Power of Nightmares
“The Rise of the Politics of Fear”
Documentary
Examines how politicians have used our fears to increase their power and control over society.
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Seasons & episodes
1Baby It's Cold Outside20 Oct 2004 · 60m · ★ 8.7In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares. The first part of the series explains the origins of Islamism and Neo-Conservatism.
2The Phantom Victory27 Oct 2004 · 60mIslamist factions, rapidly falling under the more radical influence of Zawahiri and his rich Saudi acolyte Osama bin Laden, join the Neo-Conservative-influenced Reagan Administration to combat the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. They are successful in repulsing the Soviet armies and, when the Eastern Bloc begins to collapse in the late 1980s, both groups believe they were the primary architect of the "Evil Empire's" defeat and thus have the power to carry out their revolutions in their homelands. Curtis instead argues that the Soviets were on their last legs and were doomed to collapse without intervention.
3The Shadows in the Cave3 Nov 2004 · 60mCurtis argues that, after their failed revolutions, bin Laden and Zawahiri had little or no popular support, let alone a serious complex organisation of terrorists, and were dependent upon independent operatives to carry out their new call for jihad. The film instead shows the United States government wanting to prosecute bin Laden in absentia for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, and needing to prove him to be the head of a criminal organisation to do so. They find a former associate of bin Laden, Jamal al-Fadl, and pay him to testify that bin Laden was the head of a massive terrorist organisation called "al-Qaeda". With the September 11th attacks, Neo-Conservatives in the new Republican government of George W. Bush use this created concept of an organisation to justify another crusade against a new evil enemy, leading to the launch of the War on Terrorism.
Details
- Created by
- Adam Curtis
- First aired
- 20 Oct 2004
- Last aired
- 3 Nov 2004
- Status
- Ended
- Language
- English
- Network
- BBC Two
- Episodes
- 3
- Votes
- 81 on TMDB
Cast
- GGilles KepelHimself
Melvin GoodmanHimself- SStephen HolmesHimself
- WWilliam KristolHimself
- MMichael LedeenHimself
Richard PerleHimself- AAzzam TamimiHimself
- FFouad AllamHimself
- AAbdullah AnasHimself
- MMilton BeardenHimself
- VVincent CannistraroHimself
- AAnne CahnHerself
Ali HarounHimself
Richard PipesHimself
