Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East

by Bahgat, Gawdat

• ISBN13: 9780813031668
• ISBN10: 0813031664
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-02
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Florida

Summary

Why do some countries seek to acquire nuclear weapons? How can they be convinced to give up these aspirations? These are the underlying questions in Gawdat Bahgat's intriguing new study of nuclear proliferation in six key Middle East countries: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, and Saudi Arabia. Bahgat looks at the economic and political forces that shape this threat to world peace and at the prospects--"largely unrealistic," he says--of establishing a nuclear weapons free zone in the region in the foreseeable future. While national security concerns are the main drive behind nuclear choices, other historical and military factors--national pride, regime stability, and perceptions and attitudes of leadership, among others--also contribute to weapons proliferation. Though the situation in each country he examines is unique, there are similarities. Bahgat demonstrates that national security concerns must be addressed to reduce the incentives for proliferation--not only of nuclear weapons, but also missiles and chemical and biological weapons.

Author Biography

Gawdat Bahgat, professor of political science and director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is the author of American Oil Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea and Israel and the Persian Gulf: Retrospect and Prospect.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
List of Abbreviations	p. xi
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons: Theoretical Perspectives	p. 1
Iran	p. 19
Iraq	p. 43
Saudi Arabia	p. 64
Israel	p. 87
Egypt	p. 109
Libya	p. 125
Conclusion: The Future of Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East	p. 147
The Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons	p. 163
Notes	p. 171
Bibliography	p. 187
Index	p. 205
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