I do love Children of Men and thinks it belongs on the list, although I never quite got how infertility would lead to vehement anti-immigrant sentiment. Obviously Japan shows that need alone doesn't lead to acceptance of immigrants, but I don't think that demographic decline has led to a hardening of attitudes towards immigration.

Hmm.. Perhaps Lawrence of Arabia for imperial politics [and sheer beauty]. I saw it in 70mm at the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, MD. They reshow it occasionally and I highly recommend the full theater experience.

[Edit: Also, the remake of the Quiet American with its clash between a cynical British journalist and a smart but not particularly wise American agent. I think it can work well as a realist critique of liberal hawkery gone awry. I haven't read the original book, but I think the film stands on its own.]

I'll have to check out the ones on this list that I haven't seen. I greatly enjoyed all the ones that I have.

I like "The Quiet American" and "The Last of the Mohicans", though they might have too much war and not enough relating to fit the criteria. But then, Daniel Day-Lewis and Michael Caine provide quality acting. On second thought, there's some parallels between them--big colonial powers versus peoples who want their freedom.

This Rod Serling-scripted, John Frankenheimer-directed movie is the film to watch when musing about civil-military relations, particularly in the United States.

It's a good movie, to be sure. It deserves a re-make, although I don't know how they'd do it without simply setting it back in the 1960s.

Buried within this romp about two Mexican teenagers going on a road trip with a very attractive woman is a lot of subtext about the ways in which globalization has affected Mexico. I'm not sure I agree with all of it, but director Alfonso Cuarón is quite deft in making his points without banging you on the head repeatedly to do it.

So I've heard. I've got to say, though, that the sex scenes (aka epitome of young teenage boy sexual fantasy) were pretty distracting on that point.

No top ten list about IR films is complete without a good dystopia flick. The premise (global infertility) is a bit of a stretch, but if you accept that, the rest of the movie seems like an effortless, logical extension of how civilization would respond to such a pandemic. Also directed by Alfonso Cuarón, incidentally. The action sequences are jaw-dropping.

I'll say. Aside from the scenery, remember the part with the car battery in the ghetto? The entire audience went "Ohh!" when that happened.

Here are some new additions that you should catch on the big screen:

Sleep Dealer is a small budget sci-fi film that tackles globalization, immigration, technology, war and identity. It should be screened in most major cities.

Cormac McCarthy's The Road is scheduled to come out this upcoming fall. If it remains true to the novel, it should be a pretty good representation of the Hobbesian state of nature.

Max Brooks' World War Z is a surprisingly insightful novel about present day geopolitics. Yes the Z stands for zombies, but the real story is about how nations react to a mass epidemic. The chapters on Israel and Iran/Pakistan should look great on film. Also, Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, The Kite Runner & Quantum of Solace) is attached to direct. Not too shabby.

After years of experience with American armies mucking around in countries where most people speak no English and most Americans cannot communicate in the local language, I'm surprised no one has thought to mention Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

It's not relevant at all until Newman, Redford and Ross arrive in Bolivia and proceed to prosper until they decide to stop robbing banks and go straight, after which corpses start piling up. Fluency in Spanish was a minor handicap as long as they only wanted to take things that didn't belong to them.

It makes me think that if we really had invaded Iraq just to steal the oil and loot Saddam's palaces, we might have been OK.

Add "Lions for Lambs" for much of the dialogue.

Burnt by the Sun is a great call. It accomplishes a similar goal as the book Darkness at Noon, but in a way that only a movie could. I think the first time I saw it, I saw it without subtitles (and about all I can do with Russian is curse someone out, then say thanks) and I was still moved by it.

While we're on the topic of Russian films, Alexander Nevsky is a great film. It's a bit heavy-handed at times, and clearly had some anti-German propaganda elements, but it's still a fantastic film. It's worth it to watch for the Prokofiev score, if nothing else. Ignore the cheesy 1938 props and such, and let Eisenstein's genius shine through.

Modernization theory is not necessarily an international relations theory, but seems to be used as a basis and starting point for other streams of thought in the field. I have often thought "The Last Samurai" has elements that made a good contrast for the arguments against modernization theory.

Disappointed by selection of the overrated/overwrought “Y tu mama tambien”. It tries so hard to tell us about Mexico that all it tells me is that some pretentious a-hole wants me to know what he thinks l should know about Mexico. My fave Mex flick and one that actually said something about the country is “La ley Herodes” (Herod’s Law). Funny, cynical and basically the story of Mexican politics for the post-Revolutionary period till the time of Fox (or we would like to believe). Important to note that it was released the year before the PRI finally lost a presidential election.

Drezner makes a film list, but doesn't include a Salma Hayek film?? There's got to be a foreign policy angle to "54", dontcha think? This move to the Foreign Policy website has taken all the fun out of his blog.

Other films? Hmmmm. How about some quintessential Cold War films, like Rocky IV or WarGames? Braveheart's got to involve some pretty important lessons for foreign policy, no?

Although I am not listing a movie, many episodes of The Twilight Zone could fit into either IR theory or general political theory. One episode in particular, "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" shows the story of one suburban block, and how neighbors turn on each other when the power goes out. Once people lose their creature comforts and sense of order, they turned on each other with a surprising level of hostility and violence. It could apply to Baghdad in 2003.

"The Mouse that Roared". - Satire, yes, but true in the sense that we were desperate to buy friendships during the Cold War.
Arthur Mitchell

Excellent and moving film about the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany. Not just a great story about international politics, but one of the best movies I've seen in a while. IMDB link.

Here's a pair to put on the list:

Barcelona for its take on anti-Americanism in Euope.

The Wind and the Lion, although you have to get over Sean Connery playing a Muslim with a Scottish brogue.

Love the inclusion of "The Americanization of Emily" and Conspiracy." Also recommend an undeservedly obscure Marlon Brando flick, "Burn." About colonialism.