In the sixth episode of Unclear and Present Danger, John and Jamelle discuss “The Fourth War,” a late-period John Frankenheimer film about two crusty bastards who almost start the third world war over a personal grudge match. It looks like a TV movie and it’s not that interesting, but it was good fodder for a fruitful and fascinating conversation. Jamelle brings some 19th century American political history to the table, and John uses Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History” to get at some of the ideas in the film.

“The Fourth War” is available to watch on Tubi.tv.

John Ganz
Jamelle Bouie

Links from the episode!

New York Times front page for Friday, March 23, 1990
Janet Maslin’s New York Times review
Roger Ebert’s Chicago Sun-Times review
“The End of History?” by Francis Fukuyama, published in the Summer 1989 edition of The National Interest.
A book worth reading: The Slave Power: The Free North and Southern Domination, 1780–1860