Weapons of Mass Destruction and Arms Control in the Middle East

The assumption here is that there is a need to a radical revision of the foreign military sales policies of the extra-regional powers towards the Middle East. The recent history of the involvement of the major powers in this strategic region has shown that the use of military instruments of foreign policies, particularly the unrestricted arms sales and transfer of military equipment and technology have contributed to the instability of the regional states. The arms races have been major obstacles to the regional economic integration and political convergence. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction will exacerbate the problem of insecurity in the region.