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Issues of Arm Control in the Middle East

Representatives from 43 African states on April 11, 1996 signed the African nuclear-weapons-free zone treaty, setting the stage for the continent to become the world's fifth geographic region to be declared a zone free of nuclear weapons. Also called the Pelindaba Treaty, the accord is the culmination of more than 35 years of work by African countries to make the continent nuclear weapon free. Their efforts began in 1960 following the first French nuclear test--conducted above ground in Algeria. Among the original signatories are Egypt, a key player in efforts to create a similar zone in the Middle East, and Libya, a country of proliferation concern. In deliverying the keynote address at the signing ceremony, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak hailed the treaty and called for a robust effort to conclude a similar agreement banning nuclear as well as bioogical and chemical weapons from the Middle East. Egypt has repeatedly demanded that Israel dismantle its suspected nuclear arsenal, the only one in the Middle East.

On the same day, the Department of Defense (DOD) released its first annual report on the global dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and its efforts to combat the threat through its Defense Counterproliferation Initiative. Entitled Prliferation: Threat and Response, the 70-page publication discussed the major threats to U.S. security from the proliferation of WMD and their delivery systems, and outlines the full range of the Pentagon's response to those threats.

The Pentagon study identified the Middle East and North Afrcia as the regions of highest proliferation concern because of the range of AMDs being developed or acquired by several countries. Most prominently, the report listed Iran as attempting to acquire "a full range of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons" and expanding its ballistic missile programs, mainly with Chinese and North Korean support, with the goal of establishing an ...

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Issues of Arm Control in the Middle East. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:43, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1692368.html