ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses arms races and the prospects for arms control in the Middle East. In particular, it treats the Middle East situation before the Gulf crisis that erupted on August 2, 1990, with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The chapter reviews their past arms interactions and considers past examples of arms control in the region. It also discusses the most important arms race/arms control relationships among the major actors of the region. The chapter introduces alternative future scenarios for arms races and arms control in the region and, based on these scenarios, to analyze the prospects for arms control in the region. The desire of Egypt, Syria and Iraq each to be the dominant military power in the region further aggravates the Middle East arms race, as do the major arms acquisitions by Saudi Arabia. Arms control consists of initiatives undertaken to achieve or to increase strategic stability among the states involved in a potential conflict.
