9 - 11 - The Arc Of History

It was Barack Obama, borrowing a phrase from Martin Luther King, who talked often about an `arc of history` that could be `bent towards the hope of a better day`. And he illuminated what he meant when he described the United States being `on the right side of history`. Behind that rhetoric lies the idea that history is driven by values; that it is not just economic and military power that makes some nations winners in history's game but what they believe in and stand for. After recent events in Afghanistan - 20 years after 9/11 - that arc may be bent out of shape. That's the framework for this discussion chaired by Edward Stourton with contributions from: the historian Margaret MacMillan; Mark Malloch-Brown, formerly of the UN; Richard Haass, president of America's Council of Foreign Relations; and David Richards, who commanded NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Producer Smita Patel

Editor Carl Johnston

Twenty years after 9/11 is the US still confident it's on the 'right side of history'?

It was Barack Obama, borrowing a phrase from Martin Luther King, who talked often about an `arc of history` that could be `bent towards the hope of a better day`. And he illuminated what he meant when he described the United States being `on the right side of history`. Behind that rhetoric lies the idea that history is driven by values; that it is not just economic and military power that makes some nations winners in history's game but what they believe in and stand for. After recent events in Afghanistan - 20 years after 9/11 - that arc may be bent out of shape. That's the framework for this discussion chaired by Edward Stourton with contributions from: the historian Margaret MacMillan; Mark Malloch-Brown, formerly of the UN; Richard Haass, president of America's Council of Foreign Relations; and David Richards, who commanded NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Producer Smita Patel

Editor Carl Johnston

Twenty years after 9/11 is the US still confident it's on the 'right side of history'?