America's Energy Transition, the Evolution of the National Interest, and the Middle Eastern Connection at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century

The dissertation investigates the origins of Washington’s interest in petroleum and the elements that originally shaped the country’s foreign oil policy in the early twentieth century. The chapters center on the analysis of the American political debate and give special consideration to the international race to secure oil concessions in the Middle East that began before WWI and that culminated in the early 1920s. The study follows the establishment of a new, more assertive stance towards the securing of sources of supply in U.S. politics, and looks at the parallel evolution of concept of national interest. In examining the process of actual policy-formation, the research looks into the discussion between the various branches and departments of the administration, as well as between the federal government and the other private actors involved in petroleum exploration and production. The aim is to reconstruct the arguments that were used to support Washington’s drive toward the acquisition of petroleum supply, in order to understand how the access to oil resources – both at home and abroad – was presented, justified, and pursued before the American public.