ABSTRACT
The nuclear agenda, both at the global level and in the Middle East, has figured prominently in public debate since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the discovery of Saddam Hussein's "mini-Manhattan Project." The basic defining feature of the post-war global nuclear order was the US-Soviet nuclear competition. This competition was driven by a number of factors: conflict of interests; ideology; and the US commitment to Europe's defense via a posture of extended deterrence. There are many reasons for thinking that the pressures on Israel's nuclear monopoly would increase rather than decrease. First, the Iraqi nuclear weapons program is badly damaged but not eliminated. No more than in 1981, after Israeli aircraft destroyed the Osirak research reactor, has Saddam Hussein given up his desire for nuclear weapons. Yet another reason for being concerned that the Israeli nuclear monopoly is unstable is the risk of proliferation spillovers from the breakup of the Soviet Union.
