Abstract
With the end of the Cold War, the question of arms control moved to the fore of Middle Eastern politics as an important element in the process of conflict resolution in the region. This upsurge of interest in arms control could be explained in the light of a number of global and regional developments. Perhaps the most important development was the end of the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, it was common to dismiss proposals for arms control in the region.
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- 1.
See the text of former President Bush’s Address to the Nation on the Commonwealth of Independent States, 25 December 1991: available at: http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=3791&year=1991&month=12.
- 2.
See the text of the American–Russian Camp David Declaration, 1 February 1992; available at: http://www.bits.de/NRANEU/US-Russia/A%20Official%20Docs/Bush%20Yelt%201st%20sum%20.htm.
- 3.
Charter of Paris for a New Europe, November 1990; available at: http://www.state.gov/t/isn/4721.htm.
- 4.
In the past, the Arab rejectionist actors had refused to join any peace talks with Israel. This was mainly a result of their estimation that the talks would mean the recognition of Israel without corresponding Israeli concessions, and because the Soviet Union rejected the first Middle East peace process, which had started in the aftermath of the 1973 war. Meanwhile, the Israelis refused to discuss arms control in isolation from regional security issues. They insisted that any discussion of arms control issues must be made through direct negotiations with their Arab neighbours. See Cohen 1992: 42.
- 5.
See the text of UN Security Council Resolution 687; at: http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0687.htm.
- 6.
In 1988, Jordan announced it was no longer able to meet its debt obligations, which amounted to US$8 billion. Out of this figure, around US$3 billion was military debt. In 1990, Egypt had a foreign debt of around US$50 billion, of which US$10 billion resulted from arms purchases. Syria also faced a serious debt crisis by the late 1980s. See Steinberg 1996: 8; Sadowski 1994: 36–44.
- 7.
See the text of the US Middle East Arms Control Initiative, 29 May 1991; available at: http://www.disam.dsca.mil/pubs/Vol%2013_4/Fact%20Sheet%20Middle%20East%20Arms%20Control%20Initiative.pdf.
- 8.
Ibid.
- 9.
See the text of the French Arms Control and Disarmament Plan, 3 June 1991; available at: http://archives.sipri.org/contents/expcon/mitterand.html.
- 10.
The text of the communiqué is in Anthony et al. 1992: 302–303.
- 11.
The text of the declaration is in Anthony et al. 1992: 304–305.
- 12.
“Presidency Conclusions”. European Council, Luxembourg, 28–29 June 1991; available at: http://aei.pitt.edu/1935/1/1935.pdf; and European Council, Lisbon, 26–27 June 1992; available at: http://aei.pitt.edu/1420/1/Lisbon_june_1992.pdf.
- 13.
Council of the European Union, ‘European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports’, Doc. 8675/2/98 REV 2, 5 June 1998.
- 14.
Ibid.
- 15.
Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment, Official Journal of the European Union, L335, 8 December 2008.
- 16.
The Political-Security Basket aimed at establishing a common area of peace and stability in the Mediterranean based on the principles of human rights and democracy. This included the adoption of measures concerning respect for democracy and the rule of law, human rights, the rights of self-determination, non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, cooperative measures for countering terrorism, and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means. The EMP also adopted soft security practices, including regular political and security dialogues, security expert meetings, seminar diplomacy, and partnership-building measures with the aim of creating trust and collective security understandings between EU members and partner states. The Economic and Financial Basket aimed at creating a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area by 2010. The EU would provide financial aid to the southern Mediterranean partners to develop the private sector and promote structural economic reforms. The Cultural and Human Basket sought to establish a partnership in cultural and social affairs.
- 17.
Third Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Foreign Ministers Stuttgart, 15–16 April 1999. Available online at: http://www.eeas.europa.eu/euromed/conf/stutg_conc_en.pdf.
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Selim, G.M. (2013). The Rise of the Arms Control Agenda in the Middle East. In: Global and Regional Approaches to Arms Control in the Middle East. SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace(), vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29314-6_3
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