About this season
Empire is a unique programme that reports on and debates global powers on behalf of an international citizen. It does so in a way whereby it questions those geopolitical, geoeconomic, corporate, and other forms of power that influence citizens across borders. Many of those are not held accountable by any one government or any one nation, and so looking at the world as the global village it has become - with its integrated societies - we try to answer the questions on the minds of many of our viewers: why and how does global power act, react? And how does it throw its weight around?
Episodes (11)
1. Tunisia: A revolutionary model?
Aired 27 January 2012
A year after the Jasmine Revolution, can the country's new government ... herald a return to narrow, sectarian rule or consensual leadership?
2. Egypt: The promise and perils of revolution
Aired 24 February 2012
With so much still undecided, did Egypt experience a popular uprising, Islamic revolution or military coup?
3. Syria on the brink
Aired 25 March 2012
As global and regional powers fight their own battles, will Syria's revolution succeed before the country falls apart?
4. Putin's Russia
Aired 27 April 2012
As Vladimir Putin won a third term as president, we ask if Russia can become a superpower once again.
5. Europe: To Be or Not To Be
Aired 15 June 2012
As Europe's crisis worsens without any solution in sight is a shift in political power a sign of hope on the horizon?
6. Egypt: A second republic?
Aired 13 July 2012
After the first truly democratic elections in a generation, will Egypt become a secular, religious, or military state?
7. US Democracy: The Power of Money
Aired 14 September 2012
Just how much does money distort the political process? Marwan Bishara investigates the power of money and the true cost to democracy of campaign funding in the US elections.
8. The post-American Middle East
Aired 19 October 2012
The Middle East has served as a setting for the grand narratives of American imperial power for generations. Empire examines the complications that shape Washington's Middle East doctrine following the Arab Spring.
9. Choosing the American President
Aired 9 November 2012
The voters have chosen, but what will the next four years bring?
10. Palestine: State of play
Aired 3 December 2012
The dawn of a Palestinian state has been a long time coming. After 65 years of dispossession, 45 years of occupation, and 20 years of failed peace attempts, on Thursday Palestine took one step closer to joining the community of nations. With a final vote of 138 to 9, an overwhelming majority of nations at the UN General Assembly voted to recognise Palestine as a non-member state. This upgrade puts Palestine on par with the Vatican, and also could allow Palestinian claims to be filed in the International Criminal Court. This recognition came just days after another in the long line of catastrophes Palestinians have faced. Under a brutal Israeli bombardment of Gaza, nearly 200 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more were wounded. Empire asks: Must the Palestinian dream of a state be Israel's nightmare? And what does the path to a just solution look like?
11. Scoring Big: The global world of football
Aired 29 December 2012
Empire explores the politics and power of the world's most popular sport, and the global implications of the game.