Fantastic presentation, thanks Matt. There is one thing that didn't quite fit my understanding and although not terribly important, thought I'd point it out. Ghaddafi did not state he was going to sell Libyan oil outside of dollars as far as I remember. The actual invasion and destruction of the country took place just before a summit where he was going to launch a planned african gold dinar. The goal was to try to have a sound monetary basis to try to lift the entire maghreb and I think sahel out of poverty. I have still never been able to find confirmation anywhere on exactly who stole the 220 tons of gold or where it is now but I can't imagine the americans allowed the french to take it!