America at a Crossroads

DISSONANCE AND HARMONY presents a rare portal into a vital and entertaining world shared by both Western and Middle Eastern cultures, the world of music. The film examines the struggles and successes of five very different Middle Eastern artists in their homelands and then tracks their experiences coming to the United States to the city of Los Angeles to collaborate with Western musicians.

STAND UP is the story of Ahmed's battle to get beyond playing "Terrorist No. 4." It's about Obeidallah's journey to discover his Arab heritage. It's about Zayid's resolve to turn being "a Palestinian Muslim woman virgin with cerebral palsy from New Jersey" into a career asset. It’s about Usman’s quest to become the Muslim comedy role model he himself never found. It’s about Hami’s determination to challenge American conceptions about Muslim women.

Campus Battleground, a special in the America at a Crossroads series, focuses on the University of California-Berkeley and Columbia University in New York where, in the spring of 2006, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students struggle over the competing claims of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism. Since the 1960's, the American university has often been less a free marketplace of ideas than a combat zone where partisan groups forcefully and sometimes fiercely argue their positions on national and world affairs. In recent years, no issue has been more contentious than the conflict in the Middle East. In this film, students debate over what history teaches and whether absolute demands can ever lead to honorable compromise. This seemingly intractable conflict half a world away has forced these students to think about allegiances to family, ethnicity and religion, and above all about the need to take a stand that will define them and their ideals.

Why does Europe hate us? It's a question that comes to mind for many Americans when they see polls proclaiming that one out of two Europeans sees America as playing a negative role in the world. A whimsical, yet serious look at the estrangement between Europeans and Americans, this documentary travels to Ireland, France, Poland and Great Britain to examine the thesis that each country responds to American culture and society in a unique way.

An examination of how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict plays at UC-Berkeley and Columbia University, where sentiments on both sides are strong. At Berkeley, pro-Palestinian students set up mock Israeli checkpoints while Jewish students celebrate Israel Day. At Columbia, provocative speakers stoke debate. Included: Bari Weiss, editor of Current, a Columbia Jewish-affairs journal; and Khadijah Abdul Nabi, president of Turath, the university's Arab cultural organization.

Atlantic Monthly military correspondent Robert D. Kaplan examines the U.S. military's role in the 21st century. Included: U.S. forces working with local forces in the Philippines and Mali to root out terrorists; assisting the Colombian government in its war against the narcotics trade; and training the military in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

“Kansas to Kandahar” tracks the experiences of an Army Reserve Chinook helicopter unit as it served a one-year deployment, first providing humanitarian relief in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, then headed to Afghanistan, where it transported troops and supplies into combat zones. Included: how the unit's families dealt with the absence of their loved ones.

“Europe's 9/11” looks back at Al Qaeda-linked bombings of commuter trains in Madrid on March 11, 2004, which killed 191 people. Also: “The Muslim Americans” explores how the Muslim community has fared in the U.S. since 9/11; and compares it with the experiences of Muslims in Great Britain and Europe.

“Gangs of Iraq” examines the four-year effort to train Iraqi forces to “stand up”; and how the Coalition-trained Iraqi military and police have been infiltrated by sectarian militias. Also: “The Case for War: In Defense of Freedom” follows former assistant defense secretary Richard Perle, who championed the invasion of Iraq, as he defends the war; and debates opponents, including the wife of a U.S. soldier serving in Iraq, and former UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke.

Eleven documentaries examining post-9/11 challenges around the world. First up: “JIHAD: The Men and Ideas Behind Al Qaeda,” which looks at radical Islamic organizations, including the beliefs that inspire them and challenges they pose to their governments and to the West.