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Show 100 college of social & behavioral science The crumbling hegemony of the United States was built upon intervention in domestic and regional conflicts. The history of major US intervention begins after World War II and continues to the present day, but the nature and motivation of intervention has shifted from ideological to resourceful. From 1949 to 1989, the primary concern of the United States was promotion of democracy for nations that had suffered severe political shifts because of or since World War II. Despite remaining interested in the promotion of democracy for states experiencing political unrest, discontent, or domestic conflict, the United States began paying closer attention to the political power of oil in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Though there is clearly more than oil that motivates US intervention, resource obtainment has risen as a key player since 1982. As the oil-rich nations experience increasingly violent political unrest, the United States is poised to become the hero-state, ready to intervene and negotiate as a method of securing better oil prices or gain-ing greater traction for later resource negotiation. In my research paper, I explore the interests behind US intervention in the recent unrest in Libya throughout 2011, revealing the benefits, drawbacks, and risks of using intervention as a method of resource obtainment. INTERVENING INTERESTS: INTERVENTION & RESOURCES IN UNITED STATES FOREIGN OIL POLICY Emilie K Jensen (Marjorie Castle) Department of Political Science University of Utah UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS |