The Great Man-Made River Project: How the U.S. and EU Killed the 8th Wonder of the World.
Unf*cking The Republic
UNFTR Media
4.9 • 683 Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Great Man-Made River in Libya was once considered the 8th Wonder of the World. Water was first discovered in the 1960s when oil and gas drilling companies discovered enormous aquifers beneath the desert sands of Libya. 20 years after these discoveries, Libya was under the brutal dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi who had overthrown the monarchy in 1969. Gaddafi embarked on an ambitious plan to pump water from under the desert into large reservoirs that were connected by pipelines throughout the country. While three of the five planned phases were completed at an estimated cost of $30 billion, the project was halted when Gaddafi was killed in 2011 during the Arab Spring uprisings. This is the fascinating story of a despot who had a grand vision for Islamic pan-Arab nationalism and will forever be linked to one of the greatest engineering feats the world has ever seen; a man who was ultimately betrayed by western “allies” and ironically died as brutally as he ruled at the hands of young Islamic Arab nationalists.
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:35
Chapter One: 00:05:11
Chapter Two: 00:09:21
Chapter Three: 00:15:27
Chapter Four: 00:21:57
Chapter Five: 00:32:13
Chapter Six: 00:37:07
Bring it home, Max. 00:44:18
Resources
Water Supply Project: GMR (Great Man-Made River)
Middle East Institute: What’s next for Libya’s Great Man-Made River Project?
What Happened to Libya's Great Man-Made River Project?
GWI: Libya’s $11 billion water lifeline
ScienceDirect Topics: Agricultural Revolution - an overview
Reuters: Libyan leaders agree form new unified government
Al Jazeera: Libya’s High State Council elects new leader as political gridlock deepens
Muammar Gaddafi Interviewed Just Before Libyan Revolution
Moammar Gadhafi Dead Video: Last Moments Alive Caught on Tape in Sirte
Book Love
John Wright: History of Libya
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the story of a political pundit who looked at the world around him and just said, fuck it. |
| 0:07.8 | Gives the middle finger to authority and says, kiss my ass. |
| 0:11.7 | But instead of a revolution, he started a podcast. |
| 0:15.5 | Just what the world be. |
| 0:17.6 | Who started a podcast? |
| 0:19.1 | Another basic white guy who started a podcast. Another basic white guy. |
| 0:21.4 | But it's fun because he curses. |
| 0:25.3 | All through the podcast. |
| 0:26.8 | I'm just fucking the republic. |
| 0:28.8 | With his motherfucking podcast. |
| 0:30.4 | The podcast. |
| 0:31.2 | Murder, terrorism, madness, |
| 0:36.4 | madness, imperialism, double crosses and dirty dealing. |
| 0:42.7 | It's a familiar and brutal plot line, but this story unfolded over decades on the fringes of American consciousness, despite our periodic yet critical involvement in it. |
| 0:53.4 | A few weeks ago, Libya pulled its oil off the market, causing brief turmoil in the global |
| 0:57.9 | markets. It was yet another reminder of instability in the country since the collapse of the Gaddafi |
| 1:03.2 | government in 2011, and it reminded me of a story that I've been meaning to write for quite a while. |
| 1:09.6 | The first time I heard about the Great Manmade River was in college. |
| 1:13.6 | It was a poly-sci class on dynasties and revolutions in the modern age. |
| 1:17.6 | The professor's contention was that no empire could emerge without first going through a green revolution. |
| 1:24.6 | More than industry, warfare, or technology, a nation or empire had to first |
| 1:29.6 | figure out how to nourish itself. From there, it could trade meaningful crops for other |
... |
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