2025-06-21
28 分钟This is Planet Money from NPR.
Now, this doesn't happen very often, but back in 2011,
the world welcomed a new country, the Republic of South Sudan.
A nation is born.
The scene in South Sudan is nothing less than electric.
After a brutal civil war that went on for decades,
the people of South Sudan voted for independence from Sudan.
This is the new flag that will be recognized by different world states.
South Sudan declares independence, raised the flag of the 9th of July of 2011.
This is Javier Blas.
He covers energy and commodities for Bloomberg.
Javier was watching this vote because South Sudan has a lot of oil.
And while everyone, every diplomat, everyone in Africa is celebrating this success,
there are some commodity traders who are thinking,
aha, new independent country, lots of oil, they need money, we want to buy.
How we get our hands on the South Sudanese oil?
Javier co-authored a book called The World for Sale, Money,
Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources.
He describes commodity traders
as being willing to go where no one else wants to go and take risks that no one else is willing to take.