"Is America in Retreat?" Releases March 24, 2017

ERIE, PA--(Marketwired - March 24, 2017) - Since World War II, the United States has been at the forefront of a Pax Americana -- a period of relative peace guaranteed by U.S. military might. Today, that peace is threatened by an ambitious and aggressive foreign policy by China in Asia, Russian territorial claims and occupations in Eastern Europe, and deteriorating conditions in the Middle East. More than half of Americans polled today believe we should "mind our own business."

Is America in Retreat?, the new one-hour documentary from Free To Choose Media, releases to public television stations on March 24, 2017 (check local listings). Based on the book, America in Retreat, by Wall Street Journal Pulitzer Prize-winning Foreign Affairs Columnist Bret Stephens, the film explores the question: Is there a downside to retreat, or does the world still require American global leadership?

Executive Editor and Cato Institute Senior Fellow Johan Norberg travels to the Ukraine, Estonia, Berlin, Israel, and the Philippines to talk with foreign policy scholars, politicians, military leaders, and Stephens, and to hear the personal stories of individuals who are impacted by the aggression.

When the U.S. assumed the Pax, it assumed responsibility for global order, but for how long? What alternatives are there to being the world's policemen? Is there really a downside to retreat? And in the absence of the U.S., how might global order be maintained -- or decimated? These are just some of the questions Norberg explores as he takes a look at the greatest foreign policy debate of our decade.

"Is America in Retreat? is the first in our planned series of documentaries on foreign policy questions," said Bob Chitester, founder and CEO of Free To Choose Media. "Bret Stephens' book, America in Retreat, raises fundamental questions about Pax Americana. Our documentary explores those questions with Bret, other foreign policy scholars and political and military leaders."

Executive Producers for Is America in Retreat? are Thomas Skinner and Bob Chitester at Free To Choose Media.

About Johan Norberg

International commentator Johan Norberg is an author, presenter and editor whose focus is globalization, entrepreneurship, and individual liberty. He is the executive editor at Free To Choose Media and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He has authored several books exploring liberal themes, including his newest, Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future and Financial Fiasco: How America's Infatuation with Homeownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis. His book In Defense of Global Capitalism, originally published in Swedish in 2001, has since been published in over twenty different countries. Norberg's articles and opinion pieces appear regularly in both Swedish and international newspapers, and he is a regular commentator and contributor on television and radio around the world discussing globalization and free trade.

About Free To Choose Media

Free To Choose Media produces thought-provoking public television programs and series, offering non-partisan, powerful stories that advocate for the well-being of every individual, as well as vibrant, fresh perspectives on a range of vital global and national issues. For more than 30 years, the Free To Choose production teams have traveled the world to explore topics such as the economic roots of the Arab Spring and the inspiring stories of entrepreneurs raising themselves and their communities out of poverty, and a look at how innovation and new technologies may be the answer to the world's growing energy needs. Headquartered in Erie, PA, FTCM is a television production initiative of Free To Choose Network, a global media company. For more information, visit the website at www.FreeToChooseMedia.org.

About WTTW Chicago

WTTW Chicago presents a wide array of ground-breaking content for the national public media system, with series and specials on education, politics, public affairs, science, business, arts and entertainment, health, and religion. WTTW Chicago's landmark series include Soundstage, featuring concerts by top pop and rock artists in an intimate concert setting; the popular cooking series, MEXICO - One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless; and the new animated series Nature Cat, a co-production with Chicago's Spiffy Pictures which premiered nationwide in November 2015. WTTW Chicago has also served as the national presenting station for such programs as 1916 - The Irish Rebellion, inCommon with Mike Leonard, Curious Traveler, Dream of Italy, Islands Without Cars, Speakeasy, Vintage, the educational children's properties Mission to Planet 429 and UMIGO, the award-winning children's series WordWorld, and many others. For more information, please visit wttw.com/national.

Press kit, photography and trailer available at: http://IsAmericainRetreatFilm.com/. Join the conversation at #IsAmericaInRetreat.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/3/23/11G133924/Images/ImageHandler-c4991f405af3876682d93f65ed8379d5.jpg

Embedded Video Available: http://isamericainretreatfilm.com/index.php