MINDFUL OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Abstract

This article explores the official Egyptian reaction to the 2010 US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) through three lenses: Egypt's national security prism; its ideological stance on nuclear weapons; and the compatibility of the 2010 NPR's goals with the position on nuclear weapons of Egypt's like-minded cohort states, including members of the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the New Agenda Coalition. Egypt is one of the strongest US allies in the Middle East, a region considered a hotbed of potential nuclear weapons development and activity. As such, Cairo's opinion on the direction of recent US nuclear weapons policy could provide valuable insight into the feasibility of the US goals of preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism and the compatibility of this policy with the Middle East's greater goals of eventual total nuclear disarmament and the safe and peaceful use of nuclear energy. Egyptian officials have reiterated their commitment to a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East and their support for a world free from the threat of nuclear arms. The Egyptian assessment of the NPR will be contingent on the implementation of the review's lofty goals on a rigorous and progressive pace. This article evaluates the NPR's provisions from three angles with particular emphasis on Egypt's national security prism, which involves a complex regional perspective.

Keywords:

• Egypt
• United States
• nuclear policy
• Middle East
• nuclear weapons

Notes

1. Department of Defense, “Nuclear Posture Review Report” (hereafter 2010 NPR), April 6, 2010, pp. iii, 2, <www.defense.gov/npr/docs/2010%20nuclear%20posture%20review%20report.pdf>.

2. Sameh Shoukry, “Restoring the NPT: Essential Steps for 2010,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Conference, Washington, DC, November 16, 2009, <carnegieendowment.org/files/1116_transcript_essential_npt.pdf>.

3. Barack Obama, “Remarks by President Barack Obama,” Prague, April 5, 2009, <www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Barack-Obama-In-Prague-As-Delivered/>.

4. 2010 NPR, p. 6.

5. 2010 NPR, p. 2.

6. 2010 NPR, p. 2.

7. Statement by Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 2010 Review Conference, May 5, 2010, <www.mfa.gov.eg/NR/rdonlyres/9DF2F848-8BE6-4AF0-95C0-9F8EE96EFAA0/4937/NPT1.pdf>.

8. 2010 NPR, p. 2.

9. As quoted in Lynch, “Dawn of the Nuclear Backlash.”

10. “Statement by Hisham Badr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, On Behalf of the New Agenda Coalition,” 2010 NPT Review Conference General Debate, New York, May 4, 2010, p. iii, <www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/pdf/egyptna_en.pdf>. Ambassador Badr, who is also Egypt's representative to the Conference on Disarmament, led the NAC before and during the 2010 NPT Review Conference.

11. “Statement by Hisham Badr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, On Behalf of the New Agenda Coalition,” 2010 NPT Review Conference General Debate, New York, May 4, 2010, p. iii, <www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/pdf/egyptna_en.pdf>. Ambassador Badr, who is also Egypt's representative to the Conference on Disarmament, led the NAC before and during the 2010 NPT Review Conference.

12. “Statement by Hisham Badr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, On Behalf of the New Agenda Coalition,” 2010 NPT Review Conference General Debate, New York, May 4, 2010, p. iii, <www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/pdf/egyptna_en.pdf>. Ambassador Badr, who is also Egypt's representative to the Conference on Disarmament, led the NAC before and during the 2010 NPT Review Conference. p. ii.

13. “Statement by Hisham Badr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, On Behalf of the New Agenda Coalition,” 2010 NPT Review Conference General Debate, New York, May 4, 2010, p. iii, <www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/pdf/egyptna_en.pdf>. Ambassador Badr, who is also Egypt's representative to the Conference on Disarmament, led the NAC before and during the 2010 NPT Review Conference. p. ii.

14. “Statement by Hisham Badr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, On Behalf of the New Agenda Coalition,” 2010 NPT Review Conference General Debate, New York, May 4, 2010, p. iii, <www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/pdf/egyptna_en.pdf>. Ambassador Badr, who is also Egypt's representative to the Conference on Disarmament, led the NAC before and during the 2010 NPT Review Conference. p. iv.

15. “Statement by Hisham Badr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, On Behalf of the New Agenda Coalition,” 2010 NPT Review Conference General Debate, New York, May 4, 2010, p. iii, <www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/pdf/egyptna_en.pdf>. Ambassador Badr, who is also Egypt's representative to the Conference on Disarmament, led the NAC before and during the 2010 NPT Review Conference. pp. iv–v.

16. “Statement by Hisham Badr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, On Behalf of the New Agenda Coalition,” 2010 NPT Review Conference General Debate, New York, May 4, 2010, p. iii, <www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/pdf/egyptna_en.pdf>. Ambassador Badr, who is also Egypt's representative to the Conference on Disarmament, led the NAC before and during the 2010 NPT Review Conference. p. v.

17. Colum Lynch, “Dawn of the Nuclear Backlash,” ForeignPolicy.com, April 21, 2010, <turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/20/the_nuclear_backlash_begins>.

18. Colum Lynch, “Dawn of the Nuclear Backlash,” ForeignPolicy.com, April 21, 2010, <turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/20/the_nuclear_backlash_begins>.

19. Colum Lynch, “Dawn of the Nuclear Backlash,” ForeignPolicy.com, April 21, 2010, <turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/20/the_nuclear_backlash_begins>.

20. “Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Welcomes the Efforts of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament,” Press Office, Ministry of Foreign Affair, December 27, 2009, <www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/en-GB/MFA_News/Press_Releases/27122009internationalefforts.htm?WBCMODE=c%3A\boot.ini>.

21. 2010 NPR, p. 31.

22. 2010 NPR, p. 31

23. 2010 NPR, p. 32.

24. 2010 NPR, p. 32.

25. 2010 NPR, p. 32.

26. African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba), July 15, 2009; Resolution on the Middle East, United Nations, NPT/CONF.1995/32, <www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/1995-NPT/pdf/Resolution_MiddleEast.pdf>.

27. Final Document of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, NPT/CONF.2010/50, May 27, 2010, p. 27.

28. Hillary Clinton, “Secretary Clinton's Remarks at NPT Review Conference,” State Department, May 3, 2010, <www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/May/20100504083001bpuh7.084292e-02.html>.

29. Hillary Clinton, “Secretary Clinton's Remarks at NPT Review Conference,” State Department, May 3, 2010, <www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/May/20100504083001bpuh7.084292e-02.html>

30. Howard LaFranchi, “NPT: A Nuclear Weapons Free Middle East? Pressure on Israel Grows,” Christian Science Monitor, May 4, 2010, <www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2010/0504/NPT-A-nuclear-weapons-free-Middle-East-Pressure-on-Israel-grows.>.

31. “Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel in Joint Press Availability,” White House, July 6, 2010, <www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-netanyahu-israel-joint-press-availabilit>.

32. “Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel in Joint Press Availability,” White House, July 6, 2010, <www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-netanyahu-israel-joint-press-availabilit>

33. Lynch, “Dawn of the Nuclear Backlash.”

34. Mohamed Ibrahim Shaker, “The View from the United Nations,” East Asia 5 (December 1986), <www.springerlink.com/content/80318r531674007n/>.