Episode Details

We return to Syriana, a film we discussed previously in Episode 40, but one that feels newly urgent in light of the current war with Iran. When it was released in 2005, the film offered a dense, unsettling portrait of a post-9/11 world shaped by oil, covert operations, and overlapping networks of state and corporate power. Today, Syriana reads less as a product of its time and more as a reflection of a sharp turn in U.S. foreign policy, shaped by the erosion of institutional guardrails and a naked military imperialism—with the current reality even more dystopian than the one depicted in the film.

0:00     Introduction

1:15        Why Syriana is so relevant to the U.S. military action in Iran

3:20      "The Committee for the Liberation of Iran”

6:47       Syriana as Dubai

9:15       Corruption moves from sidelines to the cabinet under Trump

12:06     The continued vulnerability of migrant workers

14:03     The loss of U.S. omnipotence on drone warfare

16:29     The involvement of Israel

18:33     The authoritarian turn in U.S. foreign policy

21:20     Syriana: a must watch now

Law on Film is created and produced by Jonathan Hafetz. Jonathan is a professor at Seton Hall Law School. He has written many books and articles about the law. He has litigated important cases to protect civil liberties and human rights while working at the ACLU and other organizations. Jonathan is a huge film buff and has been watching, studying, and talking about movies for as long as he can remember. 
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