Matt Bevan

To make sure that something like this... Iran targeted Qatari gas infrastructure in retaliation to a strike on its major gas field.

Can never happen.

And yet, it has.

Why?

Well, because unfortunately for Qatar, we're no longer in the stable times, we're in the jungle times.

And meticulous planning doesn't count for anything in the jungle.

Today, the story of the elaborate, decades-long, trillion-dollar scheme that Qatar hoped would protect them, and what its failure tells us about what we are about to face.

I'm Matt Bevan.

This is If You're Listening.

Welcome to The Jungle Times.

I love old atlases.

If you've got one you're trying to unload, send it to me.

I'll take it.

The one I've got here at the moment is from 1961, and it's not only full of extremely dated maps, but it's got fascinating statistical information about every country.

For example,

In 1961 there were significantly more cars in Australia than there were in all of Asia.

That's a fun fact.

I went looking through the atlas for fun facts about Qatar and there is none.

Qatar is drawn on a map of the Middle East but apart from its roughly sketched border, fun facts are very much lacking.

Apparently, Encyclopedia Britannica knew nothing about it, not even its population.