MIDDLE EAST LACKS CONFIDENCE IN US EXTENDED DETERRENT, ISRAELI EXPERT SAYS

The Middle East does not have confidence in the extended nuclear deterrence capability of the United States in that region, Israeli security expert Shmuel Bar said yesterday at the Nuclear Deterrence Summit. “The view in Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East that are American allies is that the United States has abdicated its role in the Middle East,” said Bar, director of Studies at the Institute for Policy and Strategy in Herzliya, Israel. He added later, “I think it is a forgone conclusion that nobody is going to rely on American extended deterrence in the Middle East in the foreseeable future.”

While noting that the U.S. has “an enormous military capability” in the Middle East, he said that Arab leaders are “very skeptical about the possibility that the United States will use nuclear weapons in such a scenario.” In the case of an attack on a U.S. ally, he cited the recent U.S. Nuclear Posture Review as leaving the decision for a response up to the U.S. president. “That gives you a lot of room to maneuver, everything from nuking them back to not inviting them to the next Olympics,” Bar said. “So this is the attitude in the Middle East.”

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