The Power of Nightmares

• George W. Bush (archive )
• Paul Wolfowitz (archive )
• Osama bin Laden (archive )
• Ayman Al -Zawahiri (archive )
• Sayyid Qutb (archive )
• Donald Rumsfeld (archive )
• Monica Lewinsky (archive )
• Bill Clinton (archive )

The Power of Nightmares is a three-part BBC documentary, which analyzes the emergence of the U.S. neo-conservatism and Islamism and compared with each other. Here, the documentation consists mainly deal with the use of fear and the enemy in politics.

Content

The series first explains the evolution of views in the Muslim world in order to contrast them with those of the later growing U.S. neoconservative views of the 60s and even today and analyze it. It discusses philosophical thinkers such as Leo Strauss, among others, and Sayyid Qutb and analyzed what role their ideas today are taking.

According to the documentation, both ideologies are based on earlier ideas that bring about a better world so were not realized, and both have similar ideas about why this has been so. Significant criticism of two ideologies in the documentary series is that they versimpelte according to the documentation and exaggerated images of the enemy have ( approximately towards other cultures ) created, and the representative for the dissemination of views especially trying to spread fear among the people.

The production explores the backgrounds of propaganda, which in particular shaped the world politics after September 11, 2001 and spread that the world fought an enemy who, according to the series but in reality, in the form did not exist or pursue other goals. Thus, in the range, for example, the common notion of a global organized terrorist network Al -Qaida seen as a myth. There were dangerous Islamist extremists, but no mighty spanning secret Al-Qaida organization behind the stand.

The first broadcast took place on British television on November 3, 2004.