About this episode

The episode explores how Paul Wolfowitz's vision for America post-9/11 led to the Iraq War and its implications for America's role as a superpower.

A man sits in the Pentagon terrified. The building is shaking. He thinks it’s an Earthquake. In fact it’s 9/11 and this man senses an opportunity. To drag America out of its post Vietnam stupor and re-assert itself on the world stage. The man’s name is Paul Wolfowitz. He’s an academic and political advisor. And he is obsessed with one idea. One idea he thinks will help America become great again. Invading Iraq. This is the story of how in the early 2000s America re-established itself as the leader of the free world and the decision to fight a war that did more than anything else to burn that image to the ground. David Dimbleby tells the story of how, in the middle of the 20th century, one country - America - became a superpower and shaped the world around it. It began with a vision. A vision born out of the ashes of World War Two. A vision of a world shaped not by war but by peace. This vision of America at the head of the free world came to be the defining idea at the center of the past 80 years of world politics. And yet now it is under threat. So how did we get here? How did America become the leader of the free world and why did it go wrong? It’s a story shaped by people…

People in this episode

Host: David Dimbleby

Topics covered

• American foreign policy
• 9/11
• Iraq War
• superpower status
• political advisors
• moral leadership
• history of America

Keywords

• Paul Wolfowitz
• 9/11
• Iraq War
• American superpower
• David Dimbleby
• foreign policy
• political advisors
• history
• moral leadership
• World War Two

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio 4

Places: Pentagon, Iraq, America

More episodes of The History Podcast

• The Hitler Diaries Scandal: Trailer · September 7, 2026 · 3 min
• Invisible Hands: The American Century: 6. America First! · September 1, 2026 · 30 min
• Invisible Hands: The American Century: 4. Rolling Thunder · August 18, 2026 · 33 min
• Invisible Hands: The American Century: 3. Operation Ajax · August 11, 2026 · 32 min
• Invisible Hands: The American Century: 2. The Prophet · August 4, 2026 · 32 min
• Invisible Hands: The American Century: 1. Mr Nobody · July 28, 2026 · 32 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The History Podcast podcast page.