Clear and Present Danger

In this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John discuss the show’s namesake, “Clear and Present Danger,” the third and final “Jack Ryan” movie of the 1990s, whose politics are one part arch-cynicism about American foreign policy and one part naive liberal optimism about the integrity of the national security bureaucracy. Other topics include the film’s connection to the Iran-Contra scandal, the way that it touches on American memory of the Vietnam War, the fantasy of unlimited American power that animates this and other movies in the Tom Clancy oeuvre and, of course, Harrison Ford.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!New York Times frontpage for August 3, 1994The Tom Clancy Companion1994 Entertainment Weekly feature on “Clear and Present Danger”