(Washington Quarterly) Ariel E. Levite - Israel's declaratory policy has always embraced nuclear disarmament as a coveted end-state. At the Conference on Disarmament on September 4, 1997, Israel formally committed to a vision of a Middle East free from nuclear and all other nonconventional weapons of destruction and ballistic missiles. Yet disarmament is seen as an end result of a long political process producing a fundamental and long-lasting transformation of relations between Israel and its neighbors. While seeing disarmament (including nuclear disarmament) as a desirable outcome, Israel nevertheless believes that it could and should not be pursued independently. Progress toward disarmament is clearly seen as a byproduct of attaining the more pressing goals of comprehensive peace and normalization. The writer is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
2010-05-17 09:34:40Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive