Book review: Nuclear power in the Middle East

The writers of this collection of essays raise several important questions: who holds the reins of nuclear power in the Middle East? How advanced are their developments? To what ends will these countries go to further them? Indeed, why resort to nuclear power at all in a region already beset with its own complex issues involving foreign policy, democracy and economic challenges?

One major benefit projected from increased spending on nuclear energy development seems to be that it is an alternative and relatively cheap power source, as discussed by Thomas W Lippman and Mari Luomi in their respective examinations of the budding nuclear sectors of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

Kayhan Barzegar, meanwhile, muses on the fact and fiction behind Iran's nuclear programme, while Gawdat Bahgat raises the question of whether a nuclear weapons-free zone would actually be the most beneficial option for the region.

The Nuclear Question provides an interesting source book for the curious and, as a work of academic research, each essay emerges as both in-depth and insightful.

* Noori Passela