Book Description

The end of the Gulf War brought to the forefront concern for dangers posed by unrestrained militarization of the Middle East. In response, on 29 May 1991 President Bush unveiled a comprehensive Middle East arms control policy in a speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy. A key element of the policy banned the sale of the most dangerous conventional weapons to the region. Although the major arms suppliers (which also happen to be the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council) have held a series of high level meetings to discuss options for restricting sales to the region, all continue conventional arms transfers to the Middle East and are likely to continue to do so. This paper contends that the end of the Cold War put additional economic pressure on the major suppliers to export arms to the Middle East; and, their interests are so compelling that the suppliers are unlikely to support President Bush's proposal. This position is supported by analyzing the interests that influence major arms suppliers to sell arms abroad. The format for this analysis includes an assessment of: each country's interest in selling arms during the Cold War; the impact of the Cold War's end on those interests; and whether the post Cold War interests conflict with President Bush's conventional arms control proposal. The paper concludes with recommendations for U.S. policy in the region.