Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World?

202457m

No easy answers? Decision-makers from Kissinger to Rice revisit how the US responded to conflicts from Rwanda to Iraq. Faced with human suffering - who has responsibility to act?

Production

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Trailers & Videos

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Trailer

Seasons

8 Episodes • Premiered 2024

Still image for Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? season 1 episode 1: Iraq: For Every Insect There is an Insecticide

1. Iraq: For Every Insect There is an Insecticide

Exploring the US's complicated relationship with Iraq, first supporting the country during the Iran-Iraq war but then turning against it after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Still image for Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? season 1 episode 2: Bosnia: Our Soldiers Are Not Toy Soldiers

2. Bosnia: Our Soldiers Are Not Toy Soldiers

As the Balkans deteriorate into a series of bloody wars, President Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright must decide whether to use force to save innocent civilians from genocide.

Still image for Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? season 1 episode 3: Rwanda – That Was a Local Thing

3. Rwanda – That Was a Local Thing

Why did the world stand by in 1994 as nearly one million people were murdered over one hundred days of terror in Rwanda? American diplomats describe events on the ground.

Still image for Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? season 1 episode 4: Kosovo – In the Name of Our Future

4. Kosovo – In the Name of Our Future

Muslim separatists in the Kosovo region rekindle old conflicts, leading Clinton’s White House to consider Serbian President Milošević’s regime a threat to their own civilians.

Still image for Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? season 1 episode 5: Darfur – Carrots for a War Criminal

5. Darfur – Carrots for a War Criminal

In 2003, hundreds of thousands of Americans protested about ethnic cleansing in Sudan. Following Obama’s 2008 election success, could some of those people, now in office, make a difference?

Still image for Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? season 1 episode 6: Libya – If You Break It You Own It

6. Libya – If You Break It You Own It

When Gaddafi declared his intention to 'disinfect' Benghazi, Obama faced a dilemma, have previously told the younger Arab generation 'you, more than anyone, have the ability to remake this world.

Still image for Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? season 1 episode 7: Syria – The Risk of Doing Nothing

7. Syria – The Risk of Doing Nothing

Obama did not want to be dragged into another war in the Middle East, but when the Syrian regime began to consider the use of chemical weapons, he warned them they would be crossing a red line.

Still image for Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? season 1 episode 8: Syria – A Loop of Imperfection

8. Syria – A Loop of Imperfection

America’s unwillingness to act after a chemical attack, causes Syrian rebels to despair. Obama concludes that there is no scenario where intervention in Syria would give a desired outcome.

Cast

Photo of Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep

Narrator (voice)

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