UAE POISED TO JOIN THE MISSILE DEFENSE CLUB...
The United States is the only country in the world to have deployed the advanced missile defense system known as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), but that may soon change. Reports from Gulf News and the Middle East Times suggest that the United Arab Emirates is set to become the first country to deploy THAAD outside the U.S., and the first to operate such an advanced missile defense system with non-U.S. personnel. A creation of Lockheed Martin, THAAD has been compared to the joint missile defense system run by the U.S. and Canada called NORAD. It will defend against both short- and long- range missiles and involves “anti-missile interceptors, launchers, fire control and communications systems, radar and training.” The system will be designed to provide “complete aerial coverage to the region, from Kuwait [to] Oman...” U.S. officials have been encouraging Gulf countries to cooperate on missile defense, and interest in the region has spiked in recent years with the advancement of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. (Middle East Times, December 17, 2008)
...AND THE NUCLEAR CLUB
An advanced missile defense system is not the only big ticket item on the UAE’s agenda, nor is it the only precedent Abu Dhabi is set to break. Within the next few weeks, the tiny oil-rich kingdom plans to be the first country in the region to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States. The UAE has already laid the groundwork by hiring two American engineering companies to “oversee the development” of the program and has agreed to “snap” inspections by the IAEA. In an attempt to address nonproliferation concerns, Abu Dhabi also claims it will purchase, rather than produce, all its nuclear fuel, as well as store the spent fuel abroad,
Interest in nuclear power has been surging in the Gulf since Iran’s secret nuclear program was revealed in 2002, although the programs are officially being advertised in purely economic terms. However, while the Bush administration has warmed to the idea of nuclear power in the Gulf – it is currently mulling similar deals with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as well – Congress is not yet sold. Members of President Bush’s own party have already sought to place restrictions on any potential agreement, wary of the UAE’s close ties to Iran and its potential role in the development of Pakistan’s covert nuclear weapons program. (Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2008)
EGYPT AND IRAN AT IT AGAIN
Tensions between Shi’ite Iran and the Sunni Gulf are often obscured by a veneer of diplomatic cordiality and slogans of Islamic unity. Every so often, however, officials on one side of the divide lower their guard and provide a glimpse into the simmering distrust dividing Iran and the Gulf on a range of issues. Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s president, is only the most recent official to assume this role, although not for the first time. In a December 17th speech to members of Egypt’s ruling party, Mubarak bluntly warned that “the Persians are trying to devour the Arab states.”
Tensions between Egypt and Iran are nothing new in the region, but recent weeks have seen an uptick in hostility, seemingly encouraged by both capitals. On the Iranian side, state-controlled newspapers have run stories critical of Egypt’s leaders and their management of the Egypt-Gaza border, while Iranian students have been demonstrating outside Egypt’s diplomatic mission in Tehran to chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” Mubarak responded in early December by recalling Egypt’s diplomatic envoy to Tehran, before throwing down the gauntlet with his most recent remarks. (Jerusalem Post, December 11, 2008)
LONELY IN CENTRAL ASIA
In many ways, Tajikistan is unique among the five Central Asian republics. Its language and culture are of Persian origin, while its former Soviet peers are all predominantly Turkic. This has put the Tajiks in an awkward situation as movements toward greater pan-Turkic cooperation and integration have gathered steam in the region. Spearheaded by Turkey, advocates of pan-Turkism have long pressed for greater integration between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, using shared language, culture and history as a catalyst for greater political cooperation.
Now talk of a new union of Turkic-speaking countries, the Interstate Parliamentary Assembly, has Tajik journalists like Mizro Muhammed worried about being marginalized. “Our Turkic-speaking brothers are making attempts to separate themselves from us,” Muhammed warns in an article titled “Under Siege.” He argues that such a union could pose a threat to the Tajik nation and called on leaders in Dushanbe to work to undermine the pan-Turkic movement. Muhammed believes that Tajikistan can thrive only through greater integration with Iran and Afghanistan, which are both culturally and linguistically closer than are its neighbors to the west. His conclusion? “Tajiks are not strategic partners of our Turkic-speaking brothers.” (BBC Monitoring Central Asia, December 4, 2008)
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