I watched this YouTube video today with my nephew.
Pretty wild eh?
This kid is extra.
He literally asked me the other day:
Want to watch this very interesting video about geo-politics?
It's kinda funny because I can't say "no".
Even if I wanted to pass I'd still be compelled to watch the video for several reasons. First and foremost, it would basically be like not working when actually doing the work has never been easier. My research and understanding of geopolitics feeds directly into my blog and, in affect, my very reputation on this platform. Geopolitics and crypto are inescapably interwoven, and this connection will only become more and more strengthened (or tangled, depending on perspective) over time.
I must admit, after watching this video, it's hard not to feel sorry for Iraq in certain respects. The undeniable layers of vulnerability and insecurity this country faces is arguably the most pronounced compared to anywhere else on the entire planet, as the video explains in great detail.
Vulnerability 1: Water insecurity
Even though Iraq is basically considered the birthplace of humanity itself, most of the country is indeed a desert and completely inhospitable to human life. Pretty much all water in the country comes from two sources: the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This wouldn't be a problem and in and of itself, however the source of almost all water that flows through these rivers begins in other countries that border Iraq.
This is a classic example of how modern technology can threaten an independent nation. Simply the fact that countries around Iraq build dams on these rivers is a huge problem. Imagine being a country located in the middle of a desert and all of a sudden another country decides to steal 50% of your water supply with a dam. That's obviously a serious attack on the nation and even legitimate grounds to start a war, which Iraq has actually done many times. Countries in opposition to such a war will paint Iraq as an unreasonable nation of war mongers, when the actual reality of the situation is far more nuanced than the stories politicians will shill us. "Weapons of mass destruction" anyone?
Speaking of weapons of mass destruction, the video itself and the channel operator are acutely aware of what he is and is not allowed to say. It's so weird to watch a video where the guy says, "I'd love to tell you about all these other obviously true and controversial things, but I'm not allowed to because of YouTube's policy."
I parroted this idea to the adults in the vicinity hours later after my babysitting gig ended and I was immediately dismissed as if it's some kind of conspiracy theory that YouTube censors non-conspiracy content and channel operators that claim otherwise are simply experiencing delusions of persecution and grandeur. Sometimes I forget how deep I am in the censorship resistance game. Average folks simply aren't ready to hear that they're being lied to on purpose by authority, to the point of being instantly dismissed without doing one second of research. Oh well. That's an uphill battle I'm not going to fight. I've got more productive things to do.
Circling back to water as a critical resource
It's also important to note there are a few other unintended consequences of lower water levels on Iraq's rivers. One major thing in this regard is that pollution increases as water flow drops, which makes it even more difficult to purify water into something potable. It's then impossible to know how far something like this can spiral, with potentially unclean water creating adverse health within the population, which then spirals out into other cascading issues impossible to measure.
Vulnerability #2: land-lock bottleneck
As we can see from the maps and geography of the location, the only way in or out of Iraq by water is the Persian Gulf. This makes it quite easy to cripple trade routes because driving through the middle of the desert isn't much an option either. This shows us how important and perhaps even spoiled we are that many of us never have to worry about logistics and how to get critical products from one place to another.
Vulnerability #3: Reliance on crude oil.
When the vast majority of your economy depends on oil exports and your trade routes can all be shut down quite easily due to logistics bottlenecks, you're gonna have a bad time. Not only that, countries around Iraq have been known to ramp up oil production, increases the supply and crippling price, which to Iraq can feel like a direct assault on their livelihood. Wars have been waged over neighboring countries simply increasing oil production, if you can believe it.
Vulnerability #4: Bad planning
I'm paraphrasing at this point because I can't rewatch the video right now, but Iraq built their own dam in order to capture more water in response to other countries around them hoarding the river-flow. They built in in a very foolish location on a material that dissolves in liquid. OOPS! Basically this dam in Iraq is known to be the worlds most dangerous dam. If it breaks hundreds of thousands of people will die and entire cities will be wiped off the map. This was probably the most shocking revelation that I learned during the video.
Vulnerability #5: Powerful enemies.
This one doesn't require much explanation considering the USA has invaded Iraq under the literal moniker of Operation Shock and Awe. Iraq is a country that seems to be at war more often than they are at peace. This kind of constant destabilization only further cripples the infrastructure of this developing nation in ways that simply can't be measured.
Conclusion
This post has already run longer than I wanted it to. The video linked above is a better source of information than this limited summary of it, so I wanted to keep it short and sweet.
Long story short, many people automatically assume that middle eastern countries like Iraq are the 'enemy', even here in the states where they pose little threat to us on the global scale. Of course then we get into the argument of atomics which is a can of worms I'd rather not open right now.
At the end of the day people are people, and will act to defend themselves. Iraq is not an 'evil' country because they are at war all the time. They are an insecure country that have lashed out many times because the threats that they face are simply far greater than the average. People will always act to secure their own survival, even if it means employing violence to get there. We would do well to remember this and not just gobble up whatever bullshit politicians are spinning.
It's weird to think that geography itself can be a cause for strife, insecurity, and war, but that is absolutely the case. Mother nature is a harsh mistress. Water is not an optional resource, and there are many political conflicts for this critical resource all around the world (just look at northern and southern California).
In addition to reliance of water, a reliance on natural resources and exports like oil (with a centralized distribution) only serve to further increase the insecurity of a country like Iraq. This fact is compounded even further once again due to geography making it very easy for Iraq's enemies to cripple their trade routes and, in turn, the economy itself.
Didn't think I'd be doing geopolitical research the day before Christmas Eve, but here we are. lol. Kids are weird.
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