Saudi Arabia and Nuclear Weapons

Saudi Arabia and Nuclear Weapons
Author: Norman Cigar
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2016-03-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317243951
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Nuclear proliferation in the Middle East remains an issue of concern. Saudi Arabia’s actions will largely rest on Iran’s decisions, and discussions and preparations within Saudi Arabia would suggest that it is ready to react to potential shifts in the region’s nuclear powers. Saudi Arabia and Nuclear Weapons uses an "inside out" approach that emphasises the Saudis’ own national interests in relation to the nuclear threat, and their understanding of the role of nuclear weapons in defense, foreign policy and the concept of deterrence. It is the first study with comprehensive use of the local Arabic language military and civilian media to provide this understanding of official thinking and policy. The Saudi case study is contextualised against the prevailing proliferation models, to conclude that the Saudi case shares both commonalities and elements of uniqueness with other proliferation cases, implying the need for a ‘multi-causal’ approach. Its comparative analysis also suggests potential implications applicable more broadly to the issue of nuclear proliferation. A comprehensive study of Saudi Arabia’s attitude to nuclear weapons, this book offers an exploration of nuclear proliferation that would interest students, scholars and policymakers working in Middle East studies, as well as Military and nuclear proliferation studies.

Saudi Arabia and Nuclear Weapons

Saudi Arabia and Nuclear Weapons
Author: Norman L. Cigar
Publisher:
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN: 9781315629414
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Considering a Nuclear Gulf

Considering a Nuclear Gulf
Author: Norman L. Cigar
Publisher:
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2013-11-01
Genre: Deterrence (Strategy)
ISBN: 9780991484904
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Is Saudi Arabia a Nuclear Threat?

Is Saudi Arabia a Nuclear Threat?
Author: Steven R. McDowell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 97
Release: 2003-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781423500780
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Saudi Arabia may become one of the next states to acquire nuclear weapons. The Saudis have the challenge of securing a large border area with a relatively small populace against several regional adversaries, The 1979 Iranian Revolution and subsequent overthrow of the Shah, a U.S. ally, sent shock waves across the Gulf states and prompted the Saudis to increase defense spending and purchase the longest-range ballistic missile in the Gulf region: the Chinese CSS-2. These missiles have since reached the end of their life cycle and the Saudi regime has since considered their replacement. This thesis examines the potential for the Saudis to replace their aging missile force with a nuclear- tipped inventory. The United States has provided for the external security of the oil Kingdom through informal security agreements, but a deterioration in U. S.-Saudi relations may compel the Saudis to acquire nuclear weapons in order to deter the ballistic missile and WMD capabilities of its regional adversaries. Saudi Arabia has been a key pillar of the U.S. strategy in the Persian Gulf however, a nuclear Saudi Arabia would undermine the efforts of the NPT and could potentially destabilize the Persian Gulf by initiating a new arms race in the region.

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Ambitions and Proliferation Risks

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Ambitions and Proliferation Risks
Author: Sarah Burkhard
Publisher:
Total Pages: 39
Release: 2017
Genre: Nuclear nonproliferation
ISBN:
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an uneasy relationship with Iran. The Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has limited Iran's sensitive nuclear program and subjected it to greater international monitoring. Many hoped that the JCPOA would also ease regional security tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, yet they have actually increased despite the deal. The JCPOA has also not eliminated the Kingdom's desire for nuclear weapons capabilities and even nuclear weapons, but rather reduced the pressure on Saudi Arabia to match Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities in the short term. In that sense, the deal has delayed concerns about nuclear proliferation in Saudi Arabia. Based on other proliferation cases, unresolved, chronic security concerns can foster nuclear weapons development. For many cases, only the resolution of such concerns led to the avoidance of nuclear weapons. Thus, in the long term, diplomatic and other initiatives should be aimed at regional threat reduction efforts to prevent Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations from seeking nuclear weapons. Perhaps more important, remedying the relatively short-term nature of the Iran deal's nuclear constraints is critical in preventing Saudi Arabia from building a nuclear weapons capability over the next five to 15 years.

Seeking the Bomb

Seeking the Bomb
Author: Vipin Narang
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2022-01-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691172625
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The first systematic look at the different strategies that states employ in their pursuit of nuclear weapons Much of the work on nuclear proliferation has focused on why states pursue nuclear weapons. The question of how states pursue nuclear weapons has received little attention. Seeking the Bomb is the first book to analyze this topic by examining which strategies of nuclear proliferation are available to aspirants, why aspirants select one strategy over another, and how this matters to international politics. Looking at a wide range of nations, from India and Japan to the Soviet Union and North Korea to Iraq and Iran, Vipin Narang develops an original typology of proliferation strategies—hedging, sprinting, sheltered pursuit, and hiding. Each strategy of proliferation provides different opportunities for the development of nuclear weapons, while at the same time presenting distinct vulnerabilities that can be exploited to prevent states from doing so. Narang delves into the crucial implications these strategies have for nuclear proliferation and international security. Hiders, for example, are especially disruptive since either they successfully attain nuclear weapons, irrevocably altering the global power structure, or they are discovered, potentially triggering serious crises or war, as external powers try to halt or reverse a previously clandestine nuclear weapons program. As the international community confronts the next generation of potential nuclear proliferators, Seeking the Bomb explores how global conflict and stability are shaped by the ruthlessly pragmatic ways states choose strategies of proliferation.

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East
Author: Gawdat Bahgat
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008
Genre: Middle East
ISBN: 9780813033167
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"Bahgat has performed a singular service by offering balanced historical and current analyses of the perception and misperception, cues and miscues, that mark understanding the area's nuclear ambitions."--Dorothea El Mallakh, Director, International Research Center for Energy & Economic Development (ICEED) "A well-written survey of the nuclear question in the Middle East from both historical and contemporary policy perspectives. It will be highly useful to students and practitioners dealing with security issues in the region."--T. V. Paul, author of Power versus Prudence: Why Nations Forgo Nuclear Weapons "A comprehensive and integrated discussion of the nuclear weapons proliferation risks in the Middle East, in an up-to-the minute analysis drawing on decades of history."--George H. Quester, author of Nuclear Monopoly 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 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"--of establishing a nuclear weapons free zone in the region in the foreseeable future.

Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2008
Genre: Arms race
ISBN:
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Saudi Arabia's Strategic Rocket Force

Saudi Arabia's Strategic Rocket Force
Author: Norman L. Cigar
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2015-03-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781508766759
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This book deals with Saudi Arabia's Strategic Rocket Force—the “silent force” because it receives far less publicity than the country's other armed services. The study addressed the decision for the original acquisition of the surface-to-surface missiles (SSM), the doctrine and employment parameters developed, and the current status of the missile force, and forecasts future potential developments and prospect. In particular, the study examines Saudi Arabia's experience with deterrence doctrine, command and control practices, force structure, and considerations of domestic, regional, and international factors with respect to the SSM, which can also provide significant insights into Saudi thinking that could also be applied to understanding that country's behavior in relation to a potential nuclear option at some time in the future. The Strategic Rocket Force has continued to develop over the years, including a reported upgrading of the missile systems in the Saudi arsenal. Any study of SSM in Saudi Arabia must include addressing the issue from Saudi Arabia's own perspective if one is to understand the dynamics which have shaped policy and are likely to indicate future behavior and the study relies heavily on Saudi sources for information. Among the study's conclusions are that Saudi Arabia will continue to view its SSM as a key component of its force structure, with a primary emphasis on deterrence; the apparent recent upgrade in the SSM force, if confirmed, is an additional indication that Saudi Arabia is likely to consider following suit if Iran succeeds in developing a nuclear capability—almost assuredly by direct acquisition of a ready-made capability from abroad, and very likely from Pakistan—especially given the Saudi view of SSM and nuclear weapons as an interrelated package; and that although Saudi Arabia intends its SSMs to have a stabilizing effect in the region by deterring potential aggression and adventurism, such upgraded arsenals also open the way for further arms races and increased regional tensions.