Kiel's success could stimulate interest in building other canals. Yet its route crosses comparatively flat terrain in a developed region with abundant resources, making it look unusually manageable. Investors and politicians could dismiss it as a special case rather than evidence that Suez or Panama would succeed. Engineering difficulty and credible financial precedent both shape which strategic infrastructure becomes politically possible.
Notable Point · 28:14-28:43
Kiel is a poor substitute for Suez's precedent
Kiel might encourage other canal schemes, but its easy construction conditions would provide weak proof for far harder projects.