The World Without US [DVD] [2008] [Region 1] [NTSC]

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...