Hacker Cinema
Syriana
2005 · Film · 128 min
Directed by Stephen Gaghan
The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman, a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.
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16 comments on Hacker News
These two pipelines have very different operational histories so the simultaneous formation of a 'methane hydrate plug' in both pipelines seems highly unlikely at best. There's also no apparent reason why such a methane hydrate plug should cause seismic-scale explosions in both pipelines.
As far as motivation, the US agenda on Europe's fossil fuel market since at least 2008 has been to lock out Russian suppliers (who don't bank their oil profits with Wall Street) in favor of American and Middle Eastern importers (those who do bank their funds appropriately, i.e. Qatar/Saudi/Kuwait/UAE good, Iran bad). This has gained extra impetus since the fracking boom and the rise in production in the USA, leading to pushes to open up export markets.
Now, would Russia want to blow up its own pipelines when it can simply shut them down for 'maintenance' until sanctions are lifted if it wanted to cut off the flow of gas? That's a ludicrous stretch of the imagination. This leaves the USA as the one with the obvious motive to do this.
I personally think Europe would have been better off pushing rapid renewable development for the past few decades, which it has to some extent, but a more concentrated effort over the past few decades would have put them in a position where their economies were not dependent on either the USA or Russia.
[edit: relevant quote - "There are many ways to light Europe" - from the movie, Syriana]
Syriana is a deftly stitched snapshot of the characters and forces at work as the inexorable power of oil money weaves its way through the political system.
The mechanics of an implied terrorist attack after the movie ends aren’t important. You’re complaining about the eagles at the end of LOTR.
Syriana is a terrible movie. The whole Stinger plot device is dumb. The value of a Stinger is the seeker, not the warhead. A chemist with a large copper bowl can build a self-forging warhead that will hole a ship, whereas a Stinger works by flinging a bunch of high energy shrapnel at a lightweight structure.
Syriana. On my top 5 movies of all time list.
> because of being told by the governments and in schools, that the CIA and co only fight terrorist and evil empires.
That's not their image in the US at all and that's not how formal education about the CIA works in schools in the US. The opposite is closer to the truth.
You're maybe aware of the common American conspiracy theory that JFK was murdered by the CIA? As retribution for the Bay of Pigs, among other things.
Every other Hollywood movie in which they make an appearance has portrayed the CIA as up to no good for decades now, especially when it comes to topics like the war on drugs and terrorism. They're frequently portrayed as duplicitous and incompetent. That's because that's how the culture views them at this point. They do not have a good reputation with the American public.
See: American Made (2017), Kill the Messenger (2014), Syriana (2005), The Siege (1998), The Jason Bourne movies, among many others
Yes, suicide bombing is horrible and does not solve oppression.
And yes, I understand the needs for agency, for autonomy, and the feelings of powerlessness and frustration behind such outrageous, inhumane and fruitless acts. I am also informed about the extensive preparation and brainwashing that go into it which also meet the person’s need for belonging and to matter (announced as martyr in their community). (See Syriana for a depiction in film?)
But solving oppression and murder by state terrorism will likely reduce suicide bombings, too.
This is well-depicted in the movie "Syriana". One of the characters and his uncle are working for the oil industry in such circumstances. Spoiler alert: the nephew becomes and extremist/terrorist, showing how easy it is for a young person with no options and in such circumstances to be so persuaded.
I really liked the movie Syriana, and this quote always stuck out to me:
"But what do you need a financial advisor for? Twenty years ago you had the highest Gross National Product in the world, now you're tied with Albania. Your second largest export is secondhand goods, closely followed by dates which you're losing five cents a pound on... You know what the business community thinks of you? They think that a hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years, so, yes, on behalf of my firm I accept your money."
Super fascinating film that I highly recommend - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365737/?ref_=ttqt_qt_tt
What about a movie like Syriana?
Full Metal Jacket.
• Three Kings.
• In The Valley of Elah.
Good Morning Vietnam.
A Few Good Men.
Platoon.
• Jarhead.
Casualties Of War.
• The Men Who Stare At Goats.
The Deer Hunter.
The Thin Red Line.
• Syriana.
• The Green Zone.
• Stop Loss.
Also, • HBO's "Generation Kill".
(•'d relatively recent movies)
I don't think "The Hurt Locker" was particularly critical of the military and didn't count it. Also not counting documentaries like "Restrepo".
I hereby dispute the idea that the DOD has made it impossible for big-budget Hollywood movies to criticize the US military, and suggest instead that the bias Hollywood in favor of the military is responding to customer preferences and not leading it. Given what I presume to be America's default position of "supporting our troops", I'm struck by how many films Hollywood produce that challenge that default.
Remember also that Hollywood confronts at least two vectors of consumer preference in marketing films: first, Americans (in the large) have a (typical) diffuse nationalistic home-team support for our overseas adventures, and, more importantly, there's a less-political less-issue-oriented reverence expected for the sacrifices made by the young people we send into combat which is especially intense during times when large numbers of people are serving in combat zones. In other words, it's especially tricky to criticize the military during active conflicts.
Also, Three Kings is a fantastic movie.
> Fuck off, Mr. Wannabe Censor
I'm not one who wants to impose restraint on others. I merely suggest a little bit of tact makes dialog possible. Or, more important, that its lack may make dialog impossible.
> Progress requires unfettered conversation of all types, not just the ones of which you approve.
It also requires the conversation itself, which may be rendered unproductive by the kind of comment made upstream.
> it reminded me of 2005's Syriana, in which there was a conversation between Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman, an energy analyst, and Alexander Siddig as Prince Nasir Al-Subaai
Is all your knowledge in Middle East affairs derived from a movie?
"We would all have gained something had it never existed."
Fuck off, Mr. Wannabe Censor. Progress requires unfettered conversation of all types, not just the ones of which you approve.
"... noduerme's deeply rude, ignorant, arrogant an[d] plain racist post."
It was none of those things. What he said is basically correct, and it reminded me of 2005's Syriana, in which there was a conversation between Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman, an energy analyst, and Alexander Siddig as Prince Nasir Al-Subaai, successor to the Emir.
NASIR: An ancestor of mine owned this bird's [falcon's] ancestor before Christ was born. Six more North Field blocks will be available for development. We would like to offer your firm the right to represent them.
WOODMAN: If I were your economic advisor I'd tell you it's not the dumbest thing you've ever done, but it'll probably be the dumbest thing you do today. Probably. But why would you need an economic advisor? Twenty years ago you had the highest GNP in the world and now you're tied with Paraguay. Your second biggest export is second-hand goods. Followed by dates on which you lose five cents a pound. You want to know what the business world thinks of you. They think a hundred years ago you were chopping each other's heads off in the desert and that's exactly where you'll be in another hundred. So, yes, on behalf of my firm, I accept your money.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriana
I included the first sentence, about the falcon, because it shows that Nasir is proud of his people having been around for a long time, but that apparent plus is effectively countered by Woodman's observation about their primitive nature, and how the oil money is really the only thing keeping them from regressing. Sure, the film is fictional, but there is a lot of truth to be found in it.
Was the book See No Evil by Robert Baer?
http://www.amazon.com/See-No-Evil-Soldier-Terrorism/dp/140004684X
The movie Syriana was loosely based on this book.
I've just started listening again to the unabridged Audible version of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle - I couldn't get into the book form but the audio book version is great.
Last few Kindle books I've read were:
See No Evil by Bob Baer, the experiences of a CIA case officer in the Middle East (which influenced the movie Syriana).
Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, about the Big Swinging Dicks of Wall Street.
Decline and Fall by Chris Mullin, the diaries of one of the more decent members of the former Labour Government here in the UK.
Thanks for submitting this. I have read Robert Baer's books but I was not familiar with his new projects.
The reason I have found Robert Baer to be of particular interest is due to his intimate familiarity with the middle east. It is rare that we come across someone of his caliber who is willing to speak out so vocally against the organization where he worked for several decades.
I strongly recommend his first book, See No Evil, which the movie Syriana was based on.
i can't believe i've gotten to the bottom of this thread, and no one has mentioned this.
first of all, you can't look at kiva.org and tell me that software can't make a difference in the world.
second of all...
- measured in dollars, the bill+melinda gates foundation is the biggest charitable organization in the country, by an order of magnitude. they give more to fight aids in africa than any country does, i believe.
- this is, in part, thanks to warren buffett, who gave away 85% of his fortune to charity.
- pierre omidyar, the founder of ebay, now runs omidyar network, an investment firm which specifically funds opportunities based on their potential for social good. portfolio: http://www.omidyar.net/portfolio.php
- jeff skoll, the original president of ebay, founded participant productions, which aims to educate through entertainment. it's the company that produced syriana, good night, and good luck, and an inconvenient truth, among other films. http://www.participantproductions.com/
- speaking of ebay, that site has enabled over a million people to quit their jobs and make a living pursuing their passions.
- someone in the comments mentioned aubrey de grey, who's doing research to cure aging. guess who's funding it? peter thiel, founder of paypal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel
there are probably hundreds of other examples of people who did well by society and then gave back. (in fact, i'd love to hear these stories if you know any offhand.)
Shooter, if you've already gotten past the first part -- doing well by society -- there are plenty of ways to give back to society that would be far more effective than going to med school. PG's doing it in his own way, but if you've got something else in mind, maybe you should talk to some of those other folks for inspiration. my understanding is that bill gates assembled a small group of really smart people and asked them to make a short list of major problems in the world that could be solved with money.