The Link between Foreign Interventions in Oil-Exporting States and Maintaining the Petrodollar Hegemony: A Plausibility Probe of the Libyan Intervention

03 May 2022 64360058 Charles University MISS - Thesis Abstract English Claire Kruyshaar Abstract This thesis examines the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) military intervention in Libya during the Arab Spring revolution in 2011. Using a plausibility probe of the Libyan case study it seeks to uncover the likelihood that the intervention was linked to a threat to the petrodollar hegemony. Although it examines four of the main NATO intervenors, the focus is on the relationship between Libya and the United States. It is significant to uncover the intentions behind interventions to inform policy for future interventions and add to the scarce academic literature on the intervention-petrodollar link. The main narrative of the Libyan intervention was that of humanitarianism under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. However, with evidence from Wikileaks, reports, government records as well as journal articles, this thesis questions this narrative. The research did not find substantial evidence linking the intervention to the petrodollar system. However, it does propose that strategic interests rivalled the humanitarian motivation