Beyond the Water’s Edge: Testing A Comprehensive Model of U.S. Intervention in Intra State Conflicts Abroad, 1945-1994.

(Outside Member) This dissertation is an analysis of the international and domestic determinants of U.S. intervention abroad. Most studies of this type have focused on the external determinants of US intervention, such as alliance commitments, the geo-strategic importance of the crisis actors, and their level of economic interaction. Some of these external factors likely form the necessary conditions for American intervention, but my study extends previous work by examining the domestic factors (state of the economy, the popularity of the president, divided government) where sufficient conditions for US intervention may lie. Findings suggest that domestic variables have a greater impact on the initial decision to intervene and that international strategic variable