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The Power of Nightmares

The Power of Nightmares
★ 8.1/10•2004•1h 0m•Documentary
Similars

The Rise of the Politics of Fear

Examines how politicians have used our fears to increase their power and control over society.

Adam Curtis · Writer

Adam Curtis · Director

StatusEnded
Runtime1h 0m
LanguageEN
First Air DateOct 20, 2004

Episodes

Episode 1 - Baby It's Cold OutsideE160m

Baby It's Cold Outside

In 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.

Oct 20, 2004

Episode 2 - The Phantom VictoryE260m

The Phantom Victory

Islamist 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.

Oct 27, 2004

Episode 3 - The Shadows in the CaveE360m

The Shadows in the Cave

Curtis 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.

Nov 3, 2004

Actors

Gilles Kepel

Himself

Melvin Goodman

Melvin Goodman

Himself

Stephen Holmes

Himself

William Kristol

Himself

Michael Ledeen

Himself

Richard Perle

Richard Perle

Himself

Azzam Tamimi

Himself

Fouad Allam

Himself

Abdullah Anas

Himself

Milton Bearden

Himself

Vincent Cannistraro

Himself

Anne Cahn

Herself

Ali Haroun

Ali Haroun

Himself

Richard Pipes

Richard Pipes

Himself

Stanley Rosen

Himself

Jack Wheeler

Himself

Recommendations

Eli Roth's History of Horror
How Do They Do It?
Horizon
The Circus
History 101
Mysteries at the Museum
Deadly Women
America's Book of Secrets
Top Gear
Doctor Who Confidential
The Witcher: A Look Inside the Episodes
TYSON
Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends
Baseball
Behind the Attraction
The Reluctant Traveller with Eugene Levy
A History of Horror
Marvel's 616
American Experience
The New York Times Presents

Similars

Brennpunkt: Philips vei til terror
The Wanted
Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror
ETA, el final del silencio
9/11: Days That Shocked the World
11M: El principio del fin
Mullaen og Meling
Road to 9/11
11-M, para que nadie lo olvide
False Flags with Richard Dolan
Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11
This Is a Bomb: The Nevada Casino Heist
Territórios - Sob o Domínio do Crime
Inside 9/11
Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers
A History of Antisemitism
Days That Shaped America
9/​11 - Der lange Schatten des Terrors
Terrorism Close Calls
72 - A Gathering of Champions