Here in Michiana, we are more than 5,000 miles away from everything going on right now in Libya. So how does this affect us?

Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa. Nearly two million people live in Tripoli alone, that is the area where Moammar Khaddafy has held the most power.

The United States has a vested interest in the country’s oil production. In fact, Libya has the largest oil reserve in all of Africa.

Experts agree that a resolution to this conflict would help bring down gas prices here in the United States, but that resolution might not come easily.

The rebels’ National Transitional Council is gaining ground in the Arab world and some of Libya’s frozen assets have been restored to the group, but they still may still face a lot of difficulty.

“I think in the short term, there’s going to be a period of instability. Khaddafy and his sons are still at large, and there’s been a lot of damage done to the infrastructures. So until the final pockets of resistance of the pro-regime elements are cleaned up, and then there’s going to be a period of rebuilding for some time to come,” says Notre Dame Political Science Professor Mike Desch.

In the past, there has also been a lot of tribal and ethnic discord in the country and while several groups have joined in the rebellion together, it’s a very loose alliance.

In addition, weapons are in abundance there and U.S. military experts say, right now, security has to be the number one priority. It is even possible for other outside groups, like Al Qaeda, to step in and develop a bigger presence in the country.

These security problems are a big concern for countries all around the globe.

Desch does say that the way the Obama administration has handled things was the right way to go about it.

“On the one hand, I think their impulse to help the Libyan rebels was the right one. There was an armed group and the Khaddafy regime is about as odious as they come. On the other hand, we took a back seat and yet the Europeans kind of take the lead, and that seems to me the right way to go forward. Do what we can to help, but don’t get too deeply involved, and certainly don’t put U.S. troops on the ground,” says Desch.