Countdown to Zero

Countdown to Zero is a documentary film released in 2010 which argues that the likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons has increased since the end of the Cold War due to terrorism, nuclear proliferation, theft of nuclear materials and weapons, and other factors.

The film features interviews with leading statesmen and experts, including Tony Blair, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Robert McNamara, Pervez Musharraf, and Valerie Plame Wilson.

The idea for the film first occurred to the producers when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Al Gore after the success of his documentary about global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.

The 9/11 Conspiracies: Fact or Fiction

This incisive documentary analyzes the extreme, yet persistent, theories that cloud the memory of our national tragedy. Experts in engineering, intelligence and the military scrutinize 9/11 conspiracy theories. Based in large part on a breakthrough exposé by Popular Mechanics. Produced by the authoritative NBC News Productions.

The tragedy of the attacks of 9/11 is ours to share; it is ours to remember; it is ours to understand. Yet, our memory and understanding were clouded almost from the first horrible moment Flight 11 struck the north tower. No-one could believe such a brazen and simple attack could be so tragically effective.

Disbelief quickly gave way to conspiracy theories and suspicions. These ideas from the fringe found a fertile breeding ground on the Internet and today many of them, through the power of almost infinite repetition, have nearly gained the status of truth.

The 9/11 Conspiracies: Fact or Fiction exhaustively examines some of the most persistent of these theories: that the World Trade Center was brought down by a controlled demolition; that a missile, not a commercial airliner, hit the Pentagon; and that members of the U.S. government orchestrated the attacks in hopes of creating a war in the Middle East.

Each conspiracy argument is countered by a variety of experts in the fields of engineering, intelligence and the military. The program also delves into the anatomy of such conspiracies and how they grow on the Internet. A must see if you regard Loose Change, Final Cut as a credible documentary.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 1 hour, 17 minutes)
I don’t know if this is the same documentary, but here it is at Google Videos.

The War You Don’t See

A powerful and timely investigation into the media’s role in war, tracing the history of embedded and independent reporting from the carnage of World War One to the destruction of Hiroshima, and from the invasion of Vietnam to the current war in Afghanistan and disaster in Iraq.

As weapons and propaganda become even more sophisticated, the nature of war is developing into an electronic battlefield in which journalists play a key role, and civilians are the victims. But who is the real enemy?

John Pilger says in the film: “We journalists… have to be brave enough to defy those who seek our collusion in selling their latest bloody adventure in someone else’s country… That means always challenging the official story, however patriotic that story may appear, however seductive and insidious it is.

For propaganda relies on us in the media to aim its deceptions not at a far away country but at you at home… In this age of endless imperial war, the lives of countless men, women and children depend on the truth or their blood is on us… Those whose job it is to keep the record straight ought to be the voice of people, not power.”

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 1 hour, 35 minutes)

The Empathy Equation

Tyler is the grassroots coordinator for Project: AK-47, an organization that rescues and rehabilitates child soldiers. He is a student in his last semester here at Belmont, a husband and a soon-to-be father. He's here today to talk to us about how to build a bridge between western society and the needs of the world.

The Jews: A People’s History

This five-part documentary explores 4,000 years of Jewish history, starting with the origins of the Jewish people in the Middle East right through to present day Judaism.

The series researches the roots of the Jewish people, seeking clues about Judaism at the archaeological excavation sites, the centers of culture and in the written evidence of the Jewish Diaspora.

The purpose of the documentary is to give the public deeper insight, beyond the Holocaust and Israeli politics, into the Jewish people, Nina Koshofer, director of the documentary, said. We wanted to enlighten people on the historical development of Jews and their faith. We chose people with whom the public could identify.

Koshofer has focused most of her attention on known personalities. We also want to show the diversity of the Jewish people the rich and the poor, the famous and unknowns… We also wanted to try and answer the question that perhaps never really can be answered who is Jewish and what is Jewish… Koshofer added.

Koshofer is aiming to show that the answers to many questions are as varied as the number of Jews who live in the world today. One cannot portray Jews as one idea or ideal. Episodes included: Exodus, Diaspora, Stigma, The Star of David, Zion.

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 4 hours)

Energy War

Forget the axis of evil, its the axis of oil

The Cold War and the War on Terror were about ideology and globalization. The 21st century will be dominated by the struggle for energy: It will be every man for himself and it's going to get dirty.

In the two-part documentary Energy War, VPRO's Backlight investigates the major developments with regards to energy sources. Featuring NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman.

The film describes the geopolitical consequences of the dependency on fossil fuels. In the struggle for the last sources of fossil fuels, countries all over the world are forced to take new political and moral decisions and have to enter into awkward alliances: rogue regimes must be tolerated and befriended. With a special focus on the gas conflict between Georgia and Russia and the position of Saudi Arabia. 

Featuring a.o. Thomas Friedman, author of international bestseller The World is Flat. Friedman sheds his light on the inverse connection between rising oil prices and the establishment of free democracies. 

The film then moves on to take a look at the international markets for alternative energy. If oil and gas are scarce and expensive in the future, where will countries turn to keep their economy going and their population warm and happy? Could solar energy or bio fuels become the main energy sources of the post-fossil fuel era? Will governments, multinationals or small producers be the motor of the green race?

William Ury: Negotiating for Sustainable Agreements

About William Ury: William Ury is a mediator, writer and speaker, working with conflicts ranging from family feuds to boardroom battles to ethnic wars. He's the author of "Getting to Yes."

Pentagon Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg on Upcoming Iraq War Wikileaks Docs

The whistleblowing group WikiLeaks is preparing to release up to 400,000 U.S. intelligence reports on the Iraq War. The disclosure would comprise the biggest leak in U.S. history, far more than the 91,000 Afghanistan war logs WikiLeaks released this summer. We speak to the nation's most famous whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the secret history of the Vietnam War in 1971. 

Eric Berlow: How complexity leads to simplicity

Ecologist Eric Berlow doesn't feel overwhelmed when faced with complex systems. He knows that more information can lead to a better, simpler solution. Illustrating the tips and tricks for breaking down big issues, he distills an overwhelming infographic on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan to a few elementary points.

Zainab Salbi: Women, wartime and the dream of peace

In war we often see only the frontline stories of soldiers and combat. AT TEDGlobal 2010, Zainab Salbi tells powerful "backline" stories of women who keep everyday life going during conflicts, and calls for women to have a place at the negotiating table once fighting is over.

Art of War: Sun Tzu

Although accounts differ over the Sun Tzu’s origins, according to a biography written by a 2nd century BC historian he was a general who lived in the state of Wu in 6th century BC.

Sun Tzu is most famous for the Art of War, praised as the definitive work on military strategy and tactics prior to the collapse of imperial China. Consisting of 13 chapters, the Art of War is one of the most famous studies on strategies for military success.

The most fundamental of Sun Tzu’s principles is that “warfare is based on deception”, and he believed that “the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”. One of his stratagems emphasizes the importance of knowing your enemy, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat”. Today his work has found new applications in areas totally unrelated to its original military purpose and used as a guide in business, sport, diplomacy, and even in dating!

WikiLeaks Release 1.0