Saudi Arabia and Nuclear Weapons: How Do Countries Think about the Bomb?

ISBN-13: 9781138643307 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 238 str.

Norman Cigar;¬Abar;¬Abar

Opis

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.

Spis treści

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Dynamics of Saudi Strategic Culture and the Decision-making Process Chapter 3: Developing Nuclear Threat Assessments Chapter 4: Analyzing the Threat in Riyadh: Why Would a Nuclear Iran Be So Dangerous? Chapter 5: Thinking in Terms of Solutions – How to Stop Iran Chapter 6: Thinking in Terms of Solutions-- the Evolution in Saudi Thinking toward a Nuclear Option Chapter 7: Thinking about the utility of Nuclear weapons: deterrence and Beyond Chapter 8: Where Does the Civilian Nuclear Power Sector Fit In? Chapter 9: The Religious Sector-- Legitimization and Accountability Chapter 10: A Nuclear Environment and Foreign Policy: Reshaping Relations within the Gulf Chapter 11: The Rouhani Era in Tehran and a new age of anxiety in Riyadh Chapter 12: Coming to terms with the 14 July 2015 Nuclear Agreement: Saudi Anxiety overcome? Chapter 13: Conclusions and Implications

O autorze

Norman Cigar is a research fellow at the Marine Corps University, from which he retired as Director of Regional Studies. His research focuses on WMD and jihadist warfare in the Middle East, and he is the author of Saddam’s Nuclear Vision: An Atomic Shield and Sword for Conquest.