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.

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.

The Middle East has been plagued with conflict for most of this century and it remains one of the world's major trouble spots. Despite recent peace initiatives, the Middle Eastern countries continue to be among the world's largest consumers of advanced conventional weapons and have now developed weapons of mass destruction. This collection of essays examines the obstacles to an effective arms control regime in the Middle East and assesses the prospects of overcoming them. The volume discusses in detail the security issues of the region: the proliferation of chemical and nuclear weapons, and the spread of ballistic missiles; the Arab-Israeli conflict; the domestic aspects of strategic doctrines; the role of the United States, Russia and Western Europe; and the prospects for establishing confidence-building measures and regional security co-operation.

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.