A stunning documentary about the escalating global nuclear arms crisis, Countdown to Zero is a fascinating and frightening exploration of the dangers of nuclear weapons, exposing a variety of present day threats and featuring insights from a host of international statesmen and experts. Among the voices are President Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pervez Musharraf, Tony Blair, former CIA Operations Officer Valerie Plame Wilson, the Ploughshares Fund’s Joe Cirincione and Stanford political scientist Scott Sagan. traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs: nine nations possessing nuclear weapons capabilities and others racing to join them, with the world held in a delicate balance that could be shattered by an act of terrorism, failed diplomacy, or a simple accident. It makes a compelling case for worldwide nuclear disarmament, an issue more topical than ever with President Obama and other world leaders working to revive this goal today. Written and directed by Lucy Walker, Countdown to Zero was screened for attendees of this year’s Global Zero International Conference in Paris and the TED Conference in Long Beach, California.

Moscow, 31 December 1991: the Red Flag of the Kremlin is pulled down and replaced by the three-coloured banner of Russia, marking the end of the Soviet Union and of its ideologies. Illustrated with testimonies of top protagonists and Mikhail Gorbachev himself, the documentary recounts, day by day, the critical last two years that led to the fall of the largest and one of the most totalitarian empires of the 20th century.

Although the end of the Soviet Union also meant the end of the KGB, it did not mean the end of secret service activities. FSB and the foreign intelligence service SVR took over the tasks. Under the secret service officer Vladimir Putin, the tasks of the secret service were redefined, and digital age with the Internet brought new possibilities for internal and external espionage and for the manipulation of public opinion.
Coup d'etats, assassinations, sex scandals, radioactive poisoning....it's the stuff of a Bond movie. But in today's Russia, it's all very real. Under Vladimir Putin, the FSB rules Russia with an iron rod directly from the Kremlin. To challenge its authority, even from apparent safety abroad, means risking your life. The KGB has even managed to outlive communism itself. Today, Russia is no longer a State with a Security Service: instead, the Security Service has a State.

The fascinating history of the military force of the Soviet Union. For 70 years, the Red Army was one of the foundations of the USSR, an instrument of fear as well as admiration, a symbol of liberation as well as coercion. While everyone knows that Trotsky's name is attached to its creation, most of its past is made up of military defeats and failures, contrary to the common idea. This documentary explores its history, combining epic narrative and deconstruction of the myth.

Carter's dreams of change give way to Ronald Reagan. Gorbachev redeems Reagan and fresh opportunities for peace arise. The debate over Reagan's legacy.