This documentary reminds me of the English journal The Economist: It's slick, has contributions from men and women with big brains, and it looks free of bias from both the left and rich, but in the end, it's a significant and insidious piece of ideological warfare. Co-authors Yergin and Stanislaw (Y&S) gloss over whatever events don't fit their thesis, and as a result their work is an inaccurate portrayal of the last few decades. Take, for example, their handling of the 1970s. Y&S discuss some economic problems, and there's some discussion about how Nixon and the people surrounding him dealt with those problems, but there's somehow no mention of Nixon bringing us out of the Bretton Woods System (system devised by Keynes, White and others at the end of WW2 which regulated capital flight, etc), one of the most significant events of the past 50 years. Also, they have a hard time separating fact from fiction, and what politicians say and what they do. For example, they give the usual line about how Thatcher and Reagan were for "free markets" yet don't actually look at their records. Reagan, for instance, was the most anti-market president in American history, and by far the most protectionist. But again, since dealing with history truthfully would not help their piece of ideological propaganda, it's simply ignored. Y&S also ignore how most technology develops (hint: it's not through investment and what's jokingly called "free trade") there's no mention of the state sector driving development, even though that's how the US develops its technology.
All in all, a terrible piece of work. Despite the slick presentation and nice documentary footage, The Command Heights is one of the worst documentaries I've ever seen.
All in all, a terrible piece of work. Despite the slick presentation and nice documentary footage, The Command Heights is one of the worst documentaries I've ever seen.