Press Launch
Nuclear Programmes in the Middle East: In the shadow of Iran
Tuesday 20th May 2008 from 10:30-11:30hrs at Arundel House
The IISS is publishing on Tuesday 20 May 2008 the latest in its series of Strategic Dossiers, entitled Nuclear Programmes in the Middle East: In the shadow of Iran.
At least thirteen countries throughout the greater Middle East have announced new or revived plans to explore civilian nuclear energy. They have spoken of the need for energy diversification to meet growing electricity demand, and cite the economic and environmental benefits of nuclear power. This surge of interest is consistent with a worldwide trend likened to a ‘nuclear renaissance’. Yet political factors have also motivated the renewed interest in nuclear energy in the Middle East, including competition with Iran and concern about its determined pursuit of technologies that appear designed to provide it with a nuclear-weapons capability.
This IISS Strategic Dossier on nuclear programmes in the Middle East provides a comprehensive overview of the history of nuclear programmes in the region, an evaluation of national nuclear capabilities and policies, and an analysis of future aspirations. The fact-rich country profiles, which include Israel and Turkey, also assess how each state may react to an Iranian nuclear-weapons capability. In addition to analysing the proliferation risks inherent in the nuclear fuel cycle, the dossier assesses policy options, including possible regional arms-control measures, that can help allow atomic energy to be harnessed for peaceful uses without engendering a ‘proliferation cascade’.
The Strategic Dossier is an essential reference text for governments, organisations, academics and media worldwide on both the status of civil nuclear technology in the Middle East and concerns about potential nuclear weapons proliferation in the region. Earlier IISS Strategic Dossiers on the strategic weapons programmes of North Korea and Iran and the Dossier Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, A.Q. Khan and the Rise of Proliferation Networks are still available for sale.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies, an international think tank based in London, is the premier independent authority on politico-military conflict. It produces the annual publications The Military Balance and Strategic Survey, the bimonthly Survival: Global Politics and Strategy and the monthly Strategic Comments, as well as the Adelphi Papers series of monographs and the Armed Conflict Database.
The press launch will take place in the fifth floor conference room at Arundel House (address below). All guests are requested to take their seats by 10:15hrs. If you are bringing a camera crew, please arrive in plenty of time to set up. Technical experts will be on hand to assist.
Please note that copies of the Nuclear Programmes in the Middle East: In the shadow of Iran
will be issued at the launch.
RSVP:
Kathleen James
E-mail: james@iiss.org
Tel: 020 7395 9109
Arundel House, 13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX
