How Iraq's War Shaped Our World

How Iraq's War Shaped Our World

It's been said that, if 11th September 2001 was the day the world changed for America, then 20th March 2003 was the day America changed for the world.

Four leading voices of the BBC's coverage in the last five years, Jim Muir, Magdi Abdelhadi, Lyse Doucet and John Simpson give their varying assessments of how the Iraq invasion and subsequent insurgency developed.

They chart the missed opportunities and faulty assessments by the Coalition and the murderous exploitation of Iraq's post-war frailty by Saddam loyalists and foreign Islamists.

We also look at how the ripples begun in the Sunni triangle have since spread globally affecting the political and diplomatic balance worldwide.

In Programme Three, Lyse Doucet looks at how the Iraq War changed the regional balance of power.

How has Iran, an overwhelmingly Shi'ite nation, assumed a new role in Iraq, the Middle East and beyond in the last five years?

And, paradoxically, have American actions in the Middle East helped this ascent of Tehran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

  • More from this series

    • Part One
      Jim Muir evaluates how war has changed Iraq.
    • Part Two
      Magdi Abdelhadi looks at how the dream of a democratic Arab world went awry.
    • Part Three
      Lyse Doucet looks at how the Iraq War changed the regional balance of power.
    • Part Four
      John Simpson examines the impact of the Iraq War on America's international reputation and role.