The unexpected loser of the Iran war
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What are the implications of living in 'jungle times'?
ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Why do humans hold on to stuff, oddments we don't use and yet can't quite throw out? It's not just you and me. Australia's oldest library is crammed with stuff that isn't books. Terrible paintings, old menus, human hair. Is this history or hoarding? I'm Annabelle Crabb. Come and have a rummage through the story of us told by our stuff. Search for the History or Hoarding podcast on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
This podcast was produced on the lands of the Wabakal and Gadigal people. My supervising producer Cara Jensen-McKinnon has coined a phrase that I think I'm going to start using.
I mean, that would be how it worked if we lived in the normal times, but we don't live in the normal times anymore. We live in the jungle times.
The phrase is jungle times. As in, we now live in the jungle times. You know the ones. Neighbourhoods laid to waste. Streets littered with cars torched in the intense bombardment. The sound of several gunshots sent the president ducking. Russia has unleashed its deadliest attack so far this year on Ukraine. Delta Force commandos seized Venezuela's president. This show is generally about looking at historical moments that either led to current events or help us better understand current events. We find historical precedents. And taken individually, all the things happening right now do have a precedent. From oil shocks to wars in the Middle East, we have been talking about these precedents for weeks in the 80s in sydney i remember petrol rationing was done by state governments we all know from iraq from afghanistan a war that's one month that becomes six months that becomes six years that becomes a decade but i think that in one very important way what we're watching now is different and that's that all of these things are happening at once
Every day, things just get more and more chaotic. And one person in particular is leading that chaos.
Every bridge in Iran will be decimated. Every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again. I mean, complete demolition.
The way the world operates is changing in a way that will be with us for a long time. Since the jungle time started, it's clear the old rules no longer apply. And I think the best example of where this shift is hitting the hardest isn't in Iran, Israel, the US or Lebanon, but in Qatar. Qatar, where the world's biggest gas plant is. Qatar has spent the last 50 years following the rules of the stable times. Meticulously planning, scheming and plotting to make itself immune to global instability.
How has Qatar's diplomatic strategy evolved over the decades?
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. And that's because... The Sheikhdom of Qatar is geographically prominent, but otherwise one of the least known of the Arab Gulf states. It was essentially famous for not being famous.
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