Big Ideas That Changed The World

Big Ideas That Changed the World

Tuesday 1 st May at 7.15pm, Five

In the last of the current series of Big Ideas that Changed the World, MP and former home secretary David Blunkett examines the history of nationalism and its impact on British national identity today.

He also relates his own personal journey. As a young man he viewed nationalism as dangerous and racist, but today he 's come to believe nationalism, and a firm sense of national identity, are vital for us to survive in our modern, insecure and ever changing world.

British national identity is something many people today feel strongly about. Who are we, what are our values, who should j oin our nation? These questions lie behind many of the big political topics of today: immigration, asylum and racism.

But the idea that lies behind them, nationalism, is relatively new. In the programme, Blunkett traces its roots in the French revolution and German romanticism in the 18th century and relates it to today's modern nation state.

Big ideas that changed the world terrorism (4/5) Tuesday 24 April, 19.15–20.00

Continuing tonight is a new second series of the documentary strand that explores some of the world’s most influential ideas. In this programme, Terry Waite examines terrorism, its roots and history, as well as questioning whether the use of violence is ever justified.

Waite has a greater insight into the mind of the terrorist than most of us. As special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1980s, he successfully negotiated the release of British hostages in Iran and Libya. At the request of their families, he became involved when Brian Keenan and John McCarthy were snatched on the streets of Beirut. This time, however, he too was taken hostage and held captive for almost five years.

For most of that time, Waite was in solitary confinement. He was tortured and subjected to a mock execution. His captors belong to the armed militia group, Hezbolla, and over time, he could understand why they had resorted to hostage taking. They were Shia Muslims, among the poorest and most politically disadvantaged in Lebanon. Many of them had known nothing but armed conflict.

big ideas that changed the world: islam (3/5)
19.15–20.00

Continuing tonight is a new second series of the documentary strand that explores some of the world’s most influential ideas. This edition sees Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, present a personal film examining the history of Islam, from its foundations in the seventh century AD to the present day.

Bhutto opens the film by looking at the origins of Islam in seventh-century Mecca, where the prophet Muhammad was visited by the Archangel Gabriel and told to spread Allah’s word. At its inception, Islam promoted equality between men and women, and favoured peace and tolerance. Over the next few hundred years Islam spread across Asia, offering a moral code that instructed Muslims how to live their lives. “I was taught that if we lead good lives, then on the day of judgement, God will reward us with a place in heaven,” explains Bhutto.

Islam also became synonymous with scientific progression, and by the turn of the second millennium it was the most advanced civilisation on Earth. However, when the Crusaders began the first of many attacks on the Holy Land in 1095, the peaceful Islamic balance that had existed for centuries was threatened. A religious sub-group calling themselves Hashshashin formed, intent on terrorising the Crusaders, and justifying murder and matyrdom in the name of Allah. For her, the Islamic faith has been waging a constant battle since then between liberals and traditionalists.

Big ideas that changed the world - Jesse Jackson, Tuesday 3 April: 19.15–20.00

Beginning tonight is a new second series of the documentary strand that explores some of the world’s most influential ideas. Written and presented by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, this programme looks at the issue of equality, and examines the centuries-old struggle of black people in America, from the days of slavery right up to the present day.

Working alongside Martin Luther King Jr, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was one of the most important voices in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. In the 1980s, he twice ran for president, and has spent his life fighting for equal rights, justice and peace. Although the world has come a lot closer to egalitarianism since he began his quest, he still feels there is a long way to go.

For Jackson, egalitarianism is “one of the most noble ideas humans can aspire to.” It was Jesus Christ who fuelled Jackson’s lifelong passion for equality with his teaching that all men are equal in the eyes of God. However, as Jackson casts his eye over American history, he sees that Jesus’s words have been forgotten. After the slave trade, which saw hundreds of thousands of slaves die on the transatlantic crossing and over 200 years of enforced labour and brutality, Abraham Lincoln promised emancipation in the wake of the Civil War. Not only were slaves to walk free, but they would be able to vote, own land and marry.