Abdullah Anas

Beginning with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, journalist Steve Coll chronicles the events that took place in the lead-up to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, including missed signals, failed operations and political turf wars.

Examines how politicians have used our fears to increase their power and control over society.

During the 1970s the Middle East was a battleground for the Cold War; liberal pro-Western forces battled with pro-Soviet Arab Nationalists and Baathists. But in 1979 a series of events – the Iranian Revolution, Egypt’s peace with Israel, the Mecca Mosque Siege, and the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan – contributed to a radical change in the mind-set of the region and its leaders. It was the start of the meteoric rise of radical Islam.