Unf*cking The Republic The Great Man-Made River Project: How the U.S. and EU Killed the 8th Wonder of the World.
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
--
If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com.
Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.
Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week.
Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP.
Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations.
Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.
Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.
Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."
Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.