Prefer to listen? To hear this entire conversation, and more episodes in the weeks ahead, follow Ones and Tooze wherever you get your podcasts.

The Rhine River recently reached a depth of only 21 centimeters in the German town of Kaub—the lowest reading since Germany started keeping records at that gauge in 1880. The significance of those low water levels is vast. Culturally, the Rhine has long been central to German national identity—the border that has been fought over for centuries and memorialized in famous poetry and operas. Economically, the Rhine is connected to the planet’s largest chemical complexes. These days, the barges that go down the Rhine are moving at just a fifth of their full capacity.

Why is the Rhine administered by one of the world’s oldest international organizations? Is the Rhine drought of global economic significance? And what aspects of human history are being revealed by the Rhine’s receding waters?

The Rhine River recently reached a depth of only 21 centimeters in the German town of Kaub—the lowest reading since Germany started keeping records at that gauge in 1880. The significance of those low water levels is vast. Culturally, the Rhine has long been central to German national identity—the border that has been fought over for centuries and memorialized in famous poetry and operas. Economically, the Rhine is connected to the planet’s largest chemical complexes. These days, the barges that go down the Rhine are moving at just a fifth of their full capacity.

Why is the Rhine administered by one of the world’s oldest international organizations? Is the Rhine drought of global economic significance? And what aspects of human history are being revealed by the Rhine’s receding waters?

Those are just a few of the questions that came up in my recent conversation with FP economics columnist Adam Tooze on the podcast we co-host, Ones and Tooze. What follows is an excerpt, edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation, look for Ones and Tooze wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Adam’s Substack newsletter.

Cameron Abadi: The Mannheim Act of 1868 first internationalized the navigation of the Rhine; it also established the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine, which is the organization still responsible for governing shipping today on the river today. Is this the oldest continuously operating international organization in the world?

Adam Tooze: Some people claim that it is. It certainly goes back a long way. It was a product of the Congress of Vienna of 1815. That’s what set this in motion. This was the great peace conference after the Napoleonic Wars, perhaps the classic........

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