by Daniel Drezner

Looking at movie trailers recently, I was struck that there are at least two films coming out that clearly address semi-recent episodes of U.S. foreign policy and national security. First, this spring, there's Breach, about the Robert Hanssen spy scandal. This film is written and directed by Billy Ray, who also wrote and directed a movie near and (maybe) dear to the heart of TNR staffers everywhere. Then, in September, there's The Kingdom, which appears to be about the Khobar Towers bombing. This film is directed by Peter Berg, who is responsible for the best show currently airing on network television. So, some promising flicks about international affairs. And in recent years there have been others (The Constant Gardener, Syrianna, Thirteen Days, etc.) that have been interesting if imperfect. This worries me, because my hunch is that good films about international affairs are only released when you live in "interesting" times, which is a nice way of saying that things do not look so good. I can't think of a good movie about world politics realeased during the nineties, whereas during the heyday of the Cold War you had Dr. Strangelove, Fail Safe, On The Beach, etc. Does the rise of good movies about world politics mean the decline of world order? Obviously, this is only my hunch -- I fear I might be telescoping decades of the Cold War into just a few good movies after all, (there was also Red Dawn and Amazing Grace and Chuck). I'd be curious if TNR readers felt similarly, or if, instead, you believe this to be just a coincidence.