This edited volume provides a systematic analysis of the missile threat and proliferation issue in the Middle East region. The question of how to increase the level of security in the Middle East is not a new one, given the conflict-ridden nature of the region. The solution attempted for this predicament has typically revolved around intense arms build-ups, a strategy which can prove self-defeating due to the subsequent countermeasures employed by neighbouring states. Arms Control and Missile Proliferation in the Middle East focuses on the strategic proliferation of arms, with a specific emphasis on missiles. This unique emphasis enables the contributors to provide a dynamic new perspective on conceptual and political disarmament efforts, thereby distinguishing this volume from many other related works on the region, which deal mainly with weapons of mass destruction. The book also explores the possibility of a reduction in weapon arsenals, examining a more promising cooperative security concept which includes confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs). This book will be of much interest to students of arms control, Middle Eastern politics, Gulf Security, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR.

This volume incorporates the talks delivered at a conference on 11 Arms Control and the New Middle East Security Environment, 11 held in Ginosar (Israel) in January 1992. The conference was organized within the framework of the Project on Security and Arms Control in the Middle East conducted by Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies. Some 28 scholars from eight different countries, together with some 30 Israelis, took part in the conference deliberations.

Since the end of the Cold War, the Middle East has been the focus of various projects for the establishment of arms control (including CBMs) regimes. Whereas some of these projects were initiated at the global level, others were discussed and debated at the regional level. This book analyses the global and regional dynamics of arms control in the Middle East in the post-Cold War era. It examines American and European arms control projects, the contexts in which they were presented, the reactions of major regional actors, and their impacts on arms control efforts in the region. It assesses Arab perceptions of the motivations for and constraints on establishing arms control regimes. It also explores the prospects of regional arms control in the context of the ongoing Arab Spring with its ramifications for Arab regional politics, and provides a new perspective on arms control in the Middle East. This volume enriches the ongoing discourse, which to date has been dominated by mainly Western perspectives.

The Middle East is a hot spot of proliferation. It contains one state assumed to possess nuclear weapons, several states that tried and failed to develop a military nuclear capability, one state under suspicion of trying to do so, and it is the world region that witnessed the most frequent and severe employment of chemical weapons since the end of World War I. Notwithstanding, not a single arms control regime concerning weapons of mass destruction (WMD) covers the region as a whole. Instead we have seen several proliferation-related military operations which have rather contributed to destabilization than served non-proliferation. This volume, written under the auspices of the EU Consortium for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament determines the current state of diplomatic efforts to establish a WMD free zone in the Middle East. In doing so, it provides insights into central actors’ conflicting political positions, thereby explaining the stalemate of efforts to negotiate a WMD-free zone. Chapters written by renowned experts from academia and policy-oriented think tanks, as well as by next-generation Middle East and arms control experts, introduce the subject to the reader, give background information about arms control initiatives, provide technical expertise, and endeavour to make proposals for arms control measures in support of the creation of a Middle East WMD-free zone.

Nine experts examine the East-West arms control experience to identify lessons that could be applied to the Middle East. The authors pinpoint specific near-term actions, particularly confidence-and-security-building measures, that might be explored now, whether or not they are linked to formal peace negotiations.Each chapter pairs a co-author who has detailed knowledge of a particular East-West arms control approach with a co-author who has extensive experience in the Middle East Region.Written in clear, jargon-free prose, this book will be especially useful to Middle East specialists and students of arms control as well as readers with a general interest in Middle East Affairs.

"An important contribution to the debate about Middle East arms control. Shai Feldman demonstrates his mastery of the subject, including some extremely important and interesting material on Arab conceptions and attitudes. A welcome counterpoint to much of the Western literature on the nuclear dimension of the Middle East arms control." -- Geoffrey Kemp, Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom The political dimensions of the Arab-Israeli relationship have changed dramatically in recent years. Israel and its Arab neighbors have made remarkable progress toward resolving long-standing conflicts. In "Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control in the Middle East," Shai Feldman considers whether these political breakthroughs have set the stage for agreements on controlling nuclear weapons in the region. He presents a richly detailed overview of the current situation and lays out an agenda for future efforts to reduce the risk of nuclear war in the Middle East. Feldman, whose background in strategic studies includes nearly two decades of research at Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, provides a comprehensive analysis of the nuclear programs of Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, and Syria. He presents a detailed picture of how Israel and the Arab states view nuclear weapons -- their utility, and the threats they pose to regional security -- and explores the different approaches that Israel and the Arab states have adopted toward nuclear arms control. Feldman concludes by suggesting interim measures that might help bridge the gap between these different perspectives. CSIA Studies in International Security

This collection of studies examines the obstacles to an effective arms control regime in the Middle East and assesses the prospects of overcoming them. It examines the role of the extra-regional actors, the dynamics of the region and the international context of a Middle East arms control regime.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, Middle Eastern states spent more than $600 billion expanding their military forces. They acquired thousands of tanks, advanced fighter aircraft, ballistic missiles, chemical weapons, and—in some cases—nuclear devices. These potent arsenals make the Middle East the tinderbox of world affairs. In this book, foreign policy analyst Yahya Sadowski shows that the arms race cannot be sustained in the 1990s. Declining oil prices, overpopulation, economic mismanagement, and foreign policy adventures—such as the 1992 Gulf War, which cost local states another $600 billion—have sapped the economies of the Middle East. Facing dwindling incomes and rising expenses, growing numbers of Middle Easterners now favor diverting funds away from military expenditures and concentrating them on economic development programs. Sadowski argues that arms control programs for the Middle East should be designed to reinforce and exploit these economic pressures for demilitarization. He examines the strengths and weaknesses of various arms control proposals, such as the U.S. call for a cartel of weapons exporters and a Jordanian plan to liquidate the foreign debt of states that curb military expenditures.