Customer Reviews

The World Without US - With Niall Ferguson

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I was interested in watching this documentary, but it was even more thought-provoking than I expected. It starts off with a fictional "Turner for President" ad in which a candidate Turner promises to withdraw most of our troops from the world and focus solely on domestic issues. This seems simple at first, but then the film dives into why this is such a complicated topic -- what if the US really DID do that? What would the affect on the world really be?

The producer and narrator, Mitch Anderson, goes on a journey around the world seeking answers, but first telling his own story of coming to America after escaping Soviet oppression. He had grown up hearing about "Mr. Truman and Mr. Eisenhower," and how his family hoped they would return to free Eastern Europe from Soviet oppression -- but they never did. Mitch takes his journey, thoughts, and themes seriously and yet with care and conviction. There is input from everyone from former US Ambassadors to Bosnian citizens to a North Korean escapee, and many more. The cheif anchor of the documentary is Niall Ferguson, PhD (professor of history at Oxford University is just one of his credits), who adds thoughtful and well-spoken thoughts.

The documentary asks many tough questions, and it receives answers from people of many varying cultural backgrounds. The conclusions it draws are not always complete (because there are not always easy answers), but they usually make sense, even when they are surprising. I was reminded of some of the conflicting thoughts myself and some friends had after watching the excellent film "Hotel Rwanda." Some of my friends who are opposed to U.S. involvement in any international affairs had some conflicting thoughts as well. They felt that the United States shouldn't interfere in countries no matter what's going on, yet, they felt angry after the film "Hotel Rwanda" that the U.S. did virtually nothing to stop the needless bloodshed of thousands. However, can you have it both ways? Can the U.S. be a country that gets involved in only the "just" cases like my friends later felt Rwanda was, if you feel that the U.S. should really be an isolationist country?

If you want the U.S. to step back all its involvement in the world, then you have to be okay with letting tragedies like Rwanda happen. There are a lot of hard questions contained in those thoughts. This documentary made me think about many issues like that; it's a great film for people who are thinkers and care about the world and the people in it.

Please check this out as this is a great documentary and not the kind you're going to get to see on CNN.

Mitch Anderson's "The World Without US" a documentary

This 90 minute presentation takes a hard look at what the world would be like if the United States were to dis-involve its military presence in world affairs and just keep to itself like the majority of peaceful nations around the globe. The answers presented may shock you.

While most "documentaries" these days are really nothing more than a filmmaker presenting carefully-chosen data to support their already-chosen positions, I really came away from this feeling as though I had just watched an extremely well-crafted and educational presentation that in fact, does try to stay objective which I found very refreshing and eye-opening.

This is not to say it does not draw some conclusions, and the conclusions it draws do tend to land in the realm of the politically conservative world viewpoint more often than not, which pretty much ensures this is one documentary that will see very little screen time in classrooms, which is an unfortunate shame because it does have a great deal of educational value to offer. Nonetheless, that should not stop the rest of us from gaining the value of what this film has to offer, and it indeed has a lot.

Our director, Mitch Anderson, who also narrates, starts out with his family's history surviving World War II, their plight after the war in a Russian internment camp and praying for the United States to come save them (which unfortunately never happened). As a boy, he dreams of coming to the United States of America and shares his own experience as a young man risking life and limb making multiple attempts at escaping Soviet-controlled Romania before finally making it across Yugoslavia and eventually to Austria where he was granted asylum by the United States Embassy and was able to fulfill his dream of coming to America.

He then sets a global stage and takes the viewer through the modern day social and military scenarios of Europe, the former Soviet bloc, the Middle East and Asia with the help of oratories along the way by experts including former C.I.A. brass, scholars and ambassadors from a variety of countries and cultures. In segments concentrating individually on each area of the world in which the United Stated holds a strong military presence, he sets up where things are today, how they came to be, and what would happen if the United States were to suddenly withdraw its military from their respective regions.

While there is not a whole lot in the way of "yuck-it-up entertainment value" contained here (with the notable exception of beautiful Korean girls singing and dancing in an old advertisement to sell communism under Kim Jong Il), and I felt that some parts dragged on a bit more than needed, the quality of the presentation (both technically and substance-wise), educational value and the mere fact that a modern documentary has been created regarding world affairs that isn't a thinly-veiled liberal swipe at my own country's global policies makes this one stand out for me in a very positive way.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I was a bit apprehensive about this film since it seemed to be such "one of a kind" so I had a look at their website before ordering. The trailer I saw really got my interest, the premise seemed to be so interesting and so timely for our nation. It reminded me a lot of another film, called "Why we fight?" (very popular about 2 years ago) trying to answer the same question, what is the purpose of the US meddling in the entire world?

While "Why we fight" was a bit of a disappointment, this film really delivered on the promise. After the first twenty minutes you figure that the director is working an angle on the debate, but what I really liked is that he is building a really logical, coherent argument that I could follow from one end to another. And he surely supports it with footage from around the world.

I also liked the fact that it was more than an intellectual exercise. The film had some very touching personal stories that I didn't expect in a "geo-political" documentary. It made it one of those films that you still think about the second day after you saw it.
As a minus, I wish the film makers also investigated some other regions also, say, South America or Africa... but I guess there is only so much time...

Imagine a world without involvment of the United States. What would it be like? This documentary attempts to make some sense of this question by getting out there and asking this question and many others in an attempt to understand what it means for America to fight and whether our fight is really justified or not. The documentary works for the most part and is a fascinating and thought provoking look at what it actually means for the United States to stay involved in international affairs. Pick this one up and learn something. If you allow your mind to stay open, you may find yourself enlightened.

This documentary should be required viewing for elementary, high school and college students; indeed for all residents of the US. The perspective, taken from the eyes of a contemporary immigrant to the US, retains admiration and appreciation for the priviliges and responsibilities that are inherent with being "imperialists of human rights". In a time when it is popular to bash America, this is a refreshingly ballsy reminder of how much opportunity we enjoy, and paradoxically, that where much is given to us much is expected from us.
The documentary is thought provoking, an honest scrutiny of the complexities of international relations. One will gain a deeper understanding and a more profound realization of our role in the world--that our position in the world is not merely selfish and self serving but benefits billions of people the world over.
Although tempting to subscribe to the non-interventionist stance, the documentary brings to light just how perillous this would be. It demonstrates that we should not lament our status as the policeman of the world. The lesser of two evils is to continue as is...

by John Freeman, West Tennessee
Mitch Anderson has performed a great service by focusing on the strategic signifance of the U.S. military in the world today. His choice of Niall Ferguson as the leading voice adds greatly to the film for there is no other who commands such a clear vision of the world situation of today. This is an excellent video that covers an issue revelant to world peace that everyone needs to view.

Perhaps a more accurate title would have been "Why American Taxpayers Should Continue to Pay More than Six Billion Dollars a Year to Play Policeman to the World, (and saddle future generations with a tax burden by borrowing money we don't actually have)". This mini-epic is on a par, production-wise, with Frank Capra's classics of war propaganda "Why We Fight". Both are geared to preserving the status quo, no questions asked. And while both are well done, I take serious issue with them both.

This movie tries to portray the U.S.'s military presence and interventions around the world, over the past 20 years, as being ultimately altruistic and moral, rather than self-serving, wrong-headed, and calamitous. It totally ignores General Smedley Butler's experienced conclusion that "War is a Racket", and Eisenhower's warning that the growing influence of the military-industrial complex threatens to ruin American democracy.

And while the film did make several good points about very real threats in the world (racial genocide, radical religious fundamentalists, and an increasingly militarized China), it fails to note the U.S.'s political addiction to keeping several evil boogey-men in power, in order to frighten over-trusting Americans, and justify exorbitant defense expenditures.

The point of this review is not to argue the issues raise by this impressive piece of propaganda, but to warn unsuspecting viewers who might not be aware of the film's sins of omission and outright attempts at manipulation.

Ending of this (by nuclear bomb) seems propagandistic and using too much fear undermine quality of this document.

Also I was surprised, when in Bosnia case author didnt mention Tudjman-Milosevic contract and tell that bosnians were muslims, serbs orthodox, but doesnt mention catholic croatians which takes also part in this war.

And China was little bid demonized.

On the second hand I like that part about middle east, especially focus on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (which many people seems to forgot) and mentioning, that Sadam offered cheaper oil to the US.

It is not really detailed, but I know that, when I was buying this. Its more like introductiomn to this question.

My rating is something between 3-4 stars, but I dont see much documentaries about this issue, so because of that I would like to rate this by 4 stars.

This film is a journey across multiple continents which asks the question "What would the world be like without a US military presence". It is a compelling look at how other countries view the United States and what the realities of the US presence around the world actually are. Thoroughly enjoyable!

This doc is an unnervingly simplified look at recent history, from WW2 and beyond. Watching this, you are left with the impression that without the power of the US military in your backyard, you would be quickly overrun by freedom-hating communists who want to arrest all business owners and lock up your family, or by Muslim extremists who want nothing more than to rule the world, by way of decapitating Jews and infidels. Now, back to reality. About 12 years ago, when I was becoming aware of the world in which we live, I found a book by Richard Pipes (I had NO idea who he was then) called "Communism: a History", hoping to learn about the history of communism. What I got was possibly the most blatantly biased book, with little-to-no worldly context included, that I have ever read, and even with my most basic knowledge of things, I knew when I was being told far less than the whole story. At the end of this film, despite what should have been a compelling theme, I was left with a similar feeling. Now, I know you can't include everything in an hour ad a half running time, but to make NO mention of the more than 50 US interventions of sovereign nations around the world, by their own hand or by proxy, since WW2 (which show why a lot of these areas are in such a mess and 'need' US 'help'), is to completely eviscerate any kind of balance that would have made this film credible. To still sprout the myth of the good "humanitarian" attacks on the former Yugoslavia during the 90's without even a whisper of US support of one faction against another (the support of Croatia's Tudjman, a nazi admirer and holocaust down-player being just one case in point) which inflamed an already combustible region to the inevitable break-up of the only remaining "successful" socialist state in Europe, is in my book being far from candid. And what of US creation of Jihadists in Afghanistan against the Soviets in 1979 (read: origins of al-quaeda and Osama)? What about the overthrow of the democratic Mossadegh, who wanted to spend oil profits on his own people, in Iran in 1953? (leading the the Shah, leading to the Iranian clerics)? What about Vietnam? the bombing of Cambodia that led to Pol Pot? Arming Saddam Hussein and then invading Iraq twice, which, along with a decade of sanctions has killed well over a million Iraqis? No mention of the Kuwaiti oil market manipulation which led to less Iraqi oil profits to rebuild their country after the terrible decade-long war with Iran (which was of course kept going by US arms shipments to both sides) and slant-drilling practices of Kuwait. We are also fed the most absurd line that the US is not in the middle east for oil, because the US gets most of it's supplies from other regions!! Ever consider that you don't have to physically use the oil to profit from it??? Control is everything. Haiti? El Salvador? Nicuragua? no mention. South America does get a segment in the extras section, and by way of showing what can happen to a country that does not have US support/intervention, we are told by a daughter of Fidel Castro that Cuba HAS hardly any electricity, water, or medical aid. She then mentions that this was when she left there in 1993, probably the lowest period of post-revolutionary Cuba after the death of their trading partners the USSR. NO MENTION of the 50+ year US blockade since the revolution, which, because of US influence, is mostly a blanket blockade (and of course no mention of the rebuilding of Cuba since then). The films' ending especially shows us the filmmakers' blatant message to the world: by giving us a prophetic and very dramatic future scene of a Japanese city after nuclear attack by China, all because the US has packed up and gone home (hey, didn't the US already drop atomic bombs on Japanese cities during the 'good war'?? With friends like these...) we are left in no doubt. The list goes on in regards to what is missing from this film in order to give us a fair assessment of what could happen in the fascinating scenario of the US in fact bringing all it's military home. Yes, the world is a place of dangerous conflicts, but it is a world full of contradictions and subtext, and in no way as simple as the films outcome of 'they will enslave and kill us all without the honorable USA'. The world of international relations is of course a complicated place, but most of what proves that is remarkably absent in this film. Please forgive the ramble, but this sort of obfuscation of the important facts just makes me kind of mad. And don't get me wrong, I like a lot of the US influence on the world, just not the overthrowing of elected governments, installing/supporting of dictators, bombing, killing children, economic strangulation, etc. Does that really make me anti-American? Forget this film, and read some books instead.