The Prize – Empires of Oil

“Witness capitalism on a grand scale: how Shell Oil and Royal Dutch merged, then challenged the supremacy of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. A compelling tale of how oil transformed everyday life in the farthest corners of the globe, made Russia a great oil power, and helped the Allies win World War I.”

Commanding Heights Part 1 – The Battle of Ideas

“A global economy, energized by technological change and unprecedented flows of people and money, collapses in the wake of a terrorist attack …. The year is 1914.

Worldwide war results, exhausting the resources of the great powers and convincing many that the economic system itself is to blame. From the ashes of the catastrophe, an intellectual and political struggle ignites between the powers of government and the forces of the marketplace, each determined to reinvent the world’s economic order.

Two individuals emerge whose ideas, shaped by very different experiences, will inform this debate and carry it forward. One is a brilliant, unconventional Englishman named John Maynard Keynes. The other is an outspoken émigré from ravaged Austria, Friedrich von Hayek.

But a worldwide depression holds the capitalist nations in its grip. In opposition to both Keynes and Hayek stand not only Hitler’s Third Reich but Stalin’s Soviet Union, schooled in the communist ideologies of Marx and Lenin and bent on obliterating the capitalist system altogether.

For more than half a century the battle of ideas will rage. From the totalitarian socialist systems to the fascist states, from the independent nations of the developing world to the mixed economies of Europe and the regulated capitalism of the United States, government planning will gradually take over the commanding heights.

But in the 1970s, with Keynesian theory at its height and communism fully entrenched, economic stagnation sets in on all sides. When a British grocer’s daughter and a former Hollywood actor become heads of state, they join forces around the ideas of Hayek, and new political and economic policies begin to transform the world.”

Conversations – Economic Theory: Robert Ashford and Dr. Edward Wolff

From 2000, well after Bill Clinton declared the end of the Old Left. From the description:

The Guests talk about economic theory in a Paradigm sense. The raise the idea that it ultimatly is the basic source which informs all National & International Political decison making at a policy leval. They (particurly Ashford) strongly question the “Labor Theory of Value” which informs in a fundemental sense virutlaly all Economic Theory from from the far Left to the far Right as outdated in an era when economic production (and the trends therein) is increasingly the result of capital assets which are overwhelmingly owned by a very narrow owership class.

Tony Smith – A Pact with the Devil

Tony Smith at the New America Foundation, discussing some large changes in the way policy is made. The sound quality is pretty bad, you’d think the NAF could get it right. From the description:

Many liberals as well as conservatives supported the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. In his provocative new book A Pact with the Devil: Washington’s Bid for World Supremacy, Tony Smith, professor of political science at Tufts University, criticizes liberal hawks as well as neocons for sharing a common project of American world supremacy.

Jared Diamond – How Societies Fail-And Sometimes Succeed – Long Now Foundation

Jared Diamon is a captivating and articulate speaker whose are ideas are a type of common sense that just makes sense, even without the countless hours of research. From the description:

Jared Diamond articulately spelled out how his best-selling book, COLLAPSE, took shape.

The Modern Racist Paradigm

From the description:

The documentary addresses many modern-day internalized racist psychological dispositions (subconscious forms of internalized racism) which are unknowingly passed down from generation to generation due to the globalization and pervasiveness of “Whiteness”; a cultural assimilation process of which, is directly derivative to historical European expansionism, colonialism, and imperialism.

I really like this anecdotal mash-up, although the focus of zionism seems a bit much. The effects that domestic and casual racism have in geopolitics (which is of course perpetuated by the media) is enormous because it lends itself to the views from two or three cultural sources remaining dominant.

Inner Trip – Reiyukai Buddhism

This documentary is an interesting event, especially when contrasted with the gunboat diplomacy of Matthew Perry and the Treaty of Kanagawa which allowed christianity to be spread in Japan, albeit pretty unsuccesfully.

The Marshall Plan

From the description :

The Marshall Plan (from its enactment, officially the European Recovery Program [ERP]) was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger foundation for the allied countries of Europe, and repelling communism after World War II. The initiative was named for United States Secretary of State George Marshall and was largely the creation of State Department officials, especially William L. Clayton and George F. Kennan.

More at Google Video.

The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis, by Bill Moyers

Bill Moyers on PBS before the fear of being labelled partisan in a polarized domestic American scene forced the most bland neutrality on productions was incredible. Here, he covers every aspect of Iran-Contra scandal under Ronald Reagan with concise and appropriate anger.

America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy

James M. Lindsay, Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (which has great site -> www.cfr.org), on the foreign policy of the Bush administration. According to Mr. Lindsay, the Bush foreign policy embraces Wilsonian interventionism while disregarding Wilsonian international institutions and focusing instead on national power.

Securing the International Oil Supply

From the comments:

It took me two days to get through this, but it was a really good watch. It was interesting to see different sides explained, but it is hard to deny the consequences that Mr Klare outlines.

Conversations with History – Seyla Benhabib

Yale political theorist Seyla Benhabib is UC Berkeley’s Harry Kreisler’s guest in a discussion of how political theory can further our understanding of globalization and its impact on the struggle for human rights.

Biofuels: Think outside the barrel

These Google tech talks are a great resource.

ABSTRACT On Wednesday, March 29th, by invitation from our co-founders and CEO, our special guest, Vinod Khosla, visited Google to deliver a tech talk about the emergence of ethanol as a viable, market ready, and competitive source of renewable energy.

Robert Reich: Why a Massachusetts Liberal Will Be the Next President

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich will offer his predictions about this fall’s historic civic exercise. His Distinguished Lecture in Public Policy is provocatively titled “Why a Massachusetts Liberal Will Be the Next President (and Other Amazing Prophesies)”.

Perfectly self-effacing for some predictions.

The Changing Dynamics of U.S. and Japan Relations

The Japan Studies Program at the University of Washington presents the third Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Lecture. Mr. Toyoo Gyohten, president, Institute of International Monetary Affairs and senior advisor, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., is the featured speaker. In his talk, entitled ‘The Changing Dynamics of US-Japan Relations: Stability During Turbulent Global Economic Change,’ Mr. Gyohten discusses his views on how the US-Japan relationship is critical to global stability at a time when countries such as China and India are becoming stronger global economic powers

Anarchism in America

I’m really happy to have found this great documentary about anarchism in America. Underlying the entire movie is the lack of understanding of anarchism in the public as an ideology, i.e. “Ayatollah Homenin is an anarchist,” which still exists today.

AK Press has a copy on dvd

Intelligence Squared – A Booming China Spells Trouble

This past year was the first year for this Oxford-style debate series on NPR, Intelligence Squared, and I thought that every debate was thoughtful and provoking. This debate on the rise of China is my favorite from an American viewpoint, split up into an annoying 11 parts of youtube.

Liberty and Economics – Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises has had a major influence on libertarian ideas and (according to his foundation’s website) is the “uncontested dean of the Austrian School of economists”.

This video, unfortunately, suffers from having been produced by the institute who took his name; as a result, a lot of the narration and interview clips are simplistic and biased. This video does, however, provide a decent overview of von Mises ideas.

Manufacturing Consent – Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman

From the Google Video description:

The classic Canadian documentary Manufacturing Consent based on the Noam Chomsky/Edward Herman book by the same name. Explores the the propaganda model of the media.

David Brooks at the World Affairs Council

David Brooks, a “Nancy Pelosi-Democrat”, talks with Jane Wales at the World Affairs council, describing his “Arethra Franklin policy”. Mr. Brooks is smart, pragmatic and engaging and seems to think that there’s been a shift away from economics and towards identity politics across the globe, specifically in Iraq, and in the US.