Nuclear Middle East

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

The emergence of the “Arab Regional System” in 1945 coincided with the onset of the nuclear age. Three years later, Israel was established and the first Arab-Israeli war broke out. Since the very inception of the conflict, the arms race in general and the quest for a nuclear bomb in particular came to the forefront of the war and escalation dynamics between Israel from one side and key Arab actors from the other side. The nuclear bomb has been a dominant factor in the security discourse in the Arab world. The latter found itself surrounded by a nuclear periphery, namely a nuclear-armed Israel; a nuclear-capable Iran, and a nuclear-aspirant Turkey with tactical nuclear weapons positioned on its territories. Such a trilogy has been instrumental in investigating different schools of thought about the security dilemma in the region. Within this context, this course addresses the nuclear age in the Arab world in relation to Israel’s nuclear monopoly and the overlapping relations with Iran and Turkey. In so doing, it investigates the nuclear decisions of Egypt, Syria and Iraq. Moreover, it tackles the resurgent debate about the “nuclear awakening” in the Middle East, particularly in reference to the prospect of the Saudi nuclear ambition. Throughout the course, each case is addressed within the context of underscoring the continuity and change in the nuclear discourse, namely the centrality of Israel’s nuclear posture compared to Iran’s and Turkey’s nascent nuclear ambitions.