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Host of the 2022 next football World Cup, Qatar is as tiny as it is immensely rich. Torn between Western modernism and Bedouin conservatism, ruled by the iron fist of a royal family, it sits on the planet gas field and is a major geopolitical Middle East player.
 

This World Cup will be a symbol of the success of the “Qatar start-up” created by the House of Thani, a family saga with an almost romantic dimension. With its billions spent on everything, its princes and princesses with glamorous photos worthy of Vanity Fair covers and its palace revolutions, the Al Thani dynasty – which could be described as the “Kennedys of the Middle East” – will have succeeded in three generations in transforming a corner of inhospitable desert into a global capital. This unauthorised portrait of the rulers at the head of the richest country per capita on the planet will contrast the nation’s extremely rapid success story with its darker side: a diplomacy of corruption, worrying investments across the planet, the exploitation of quasi-slaves from Asia; but above all, the financing of the Muslim Brotherhood and multiple armed Islamist groups, some of which are terrorist, throughout the Arab Spring.

At a time when Lebanon is going through one of its most acute existential crises, we look back at the history of Hezbollah, a controversial party supported by Iran. An inside account that includes unpublished testimonies of the Shiite fighters themselves.

Forty years ago, in June 1982, Israel invaded southern Lebanon, dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee by the Israelis. A small guerrilla group came together in secret to resist this offensive. Formed and supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, it officially declared itself in 1985 as Hezbollah: The Party of God. Four decades later, this small group has grown to become one of the most important military and political forces in the Middle East. A party of resistance for some, a terrorist group for others, Hezbollah is admired as much as it is feared. But the organization, practically a state within a state, is living through turbulent times as Lebanon is experiencing a major political and economic crisis.

The Baltic Sea became a major geopolitical hotspot. Natural border between 8 countries of the EU and Russia, it crystallised many strategic issues: gas pipelines, territories and foreign political influences...

It is now clear that the time when Europeans could consider the Baltic as "their" lake is over: Russia intends to reclaim its shores lost with the end of the USSR and is confronting Brussels with an unprecedented challenge. The stakes are indeed high and are not limited to a dispute over sovereignty between rival powers. For Europe, the Baltic Sea is a strategic hydrocarbon supply corridor, and the heated debates over the construction of the NordStream gas pipelines are causing deep discord within the EU member states.  

The Eastern Mediterranean has become an area of strategic, military, and geopolitical tensions. An investigation that deciphers this historical turning point of the balance of this part of the world.
 

Given the importance and complexity of the issues at stake in the Estern Mediterranean, it seems necessary to provide keys to comprehension to a public constantly solicited by an influx of direct information. The director knows this territory extremely well and has privileged access. 

Opportunistic and unscrupulous, Vladimir Putin's foreign policy has put Russia back at the center of global geostrategic issues. With many experts, the documentary questions the deep motivations of this new cold war.

The Russian military intervention in Syria in 2015 caught everyone off guard, allowing the Kremlin to once again become a major player in the Middle East.

Boris Johnson, the UK Brexit leader, left an indelible mark on his country – for better or for worse. While the UK is facing its first pandemic crisis on its own, what future is there for Europe and the country?

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom is facing a major crisis on its own, without the European Union’s help, for the first time.
Behind his veil of buffoonery, will Boris Johnson embrace the stature that befits a statesman or lead his country to disaster? At heart, is he the United Kingdom's gravedigger? Or is he a restorer of British greatness?

The fishing sector has not escaped globalisation and industrialisation. Fish from all oceans find their way onto our plates, but this has consequences for biodiversity and the depletion of fish stocks. To better understand what is happening in our oceans, we go on a world tour of fishing.
 

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In light of current events in Russia, ARTE Distribution proposes a selection of in-depth documentaries to understand geopolitical stakes. Our films take a closer look on Russia's geopolitics, Poutine’s strategy, territory disputes and everyday citizen life.
 
CLICK HERE TO DISCOVER OUR RUSSIAN CURRENT AFFAIRS LINE-UP

Since the beginnings of journalism, nothing has beaten people talking about ideas and facts. To bring you current affairs with body and an extra dose of soul, ARTE REPORTS favours encounters with real people.

Every week, ARTE REPORTS reviews in images the events that made the headlines.

From the American preparations to the capture of Saddam Hussein, this documentary takes a fresh look at the invasion of Iraq through the accounts of Iraqis.

From previously unaired accounts of Iraqis, including former soldiers and leaders, civilians, future insurgents, journalists and opponents in exile, the film retraces, in minute detail, the critical year of the invasion, with as its counterpoint, the tales of members of the US military and reporters who were present during the intervention.
 
In these previously unaired images, we discover US military operations from the inside, but also - and more importantly - scenes of splendour of a dictatorship caught up in lies and unprepared for war.
 
By counterbalancing the official media scenario put forward by the Americans, this documentary provides an understanding of how, from an easy war in the face of a depleted country, the United States found themselves entangled in a civilian insurrection led by a disillusioned people, who they did not even attempt to understand and who they drove to revolt.

The complex world of geopolitics broken down into ten minute, bite-sized chunks. You'll never sound uninformed at the dinner table again.

MAPPING THE WORLD allows you to understand current hot topics, whether they deal with the state of the planet, environment, economy or geopolitic.

North Korea does indeed exist beyond the totalitarian varnish covering it. This movie sets out to meet the real North Koreans. We will observe this singular society and discover what makes them tick. 

We simply need to understand their lives – which is actually quite the uneasy task. Following the North Korean people's daily lives we discover an exotic, surprising life that is often rather funny – far from the military and dogmatic seriousness of the regime.