The Man I Was Taught to Fear Series: Part II — The Revolution Was About Sovereignty

Things I've Been Thinking About · Oct 22, 2026 · 6m

In Part II of The Man I Was Taught to Fear, Jonathan Rodebaugh follows Muammar Gaddafi’s revolution into the struggle that would define Libya’s early years under his rule: control of its oil.

After forcing the United States out of Wheelus Air Base, Libya turned toward the foreign petroleum companies operating inside the country. Under unusually favorable market conditions, Gaddafi’s government pressured Occidental Petroleum into accepting tougher terms, helping accelerate a broader shift in bargaining power between oil-producing states and Western companies.

The episode follows that…