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The Middle East superpower club
As peace process falters, arms race heats up
June 4, 1997
Web posted at: 6:20 p.m. EDT (2220 GMT)From Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Until recently, two simultaneous yet contradictory forces have been at work in the Middle East: a peace process and an arms race. But with the peace process comatose, only the sprint for munitions remains.
For now, Israel is sole superpower in the Middle East. But Iran and Egypt are aiming for that exclusive club, and nearly every country in the region -- from Turkey in the north, striving to modernize its forces, to Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia -- are shopping for weapons again.
"They are doing their utmost in order to catch up," said Maj. Gen. Matan Vilnai, the Israeli army deputy chief of staff. "And we have to do our utmost, with the support of the USA, to keep this qualitative edge all the time."
Syria, for example, has struck deals with North Korea and China to improve its military capability, said Paul Beaver of Jane's Defense Weekly. "It's made the Israelis rush in a ballistic missile defense system to protect themselves."
And every country in the region is scrambling to build alliances, not unlike Europe on the eve of World War I.
Iran has paired with Syria, with Israel as their shared mortal enemy. Meanwhile, Israel and Turkey have a tacit alliance to flank the Syrians.
Iranian money helped elect a fundamentalist prime minister in Turkey, so Israel and the secular Turkish army have a common bond, fighting Islamic fundamentalism spawned in Iran.
"We now have common enemies," said Ron Ben-Yishai, an Israeli military analyst. "'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is a common rule in the Middle East."
Even the peace process has fueled the arms race. It has given Arab countries greater access to advanced American weaponry. U.S. allies in the Gulf War are being rewarded.
And another old arms merchant wants back in the game.
"The Russians are pushing toward Iran; they are even trying to sell arms to Cyprus," said Israeli military analyst Zeev Schiff.
This latest Middle East arms race has an ominous new dimension: chemical, biological and nuclear weapons quests.
With no real peace process to offset this trend, many fear the region is quietly slipping back into instability and conflict.
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Related stories:
- Egypt, Israel: More time needed before restarting talks - May 27, 1997
- Sparring sides call U.S. Mideast peace mission a failure - May 16, 1997
- Netanyahu says peace process will continue - May 1, 1997
- Palestinians want quicker final peace deal, Israel says - April 16, 1997
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