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Nuclear Race in the Middle East

As Egypt declares its intentions to pursue nuclear energy, it joins other thirteen states in the Middle East with the same aim. Iran’s nuclear plans seem to be responsible for this troubling trend, writes Dan Murphy from the Christian Science Monitor.
While the group includes Libya, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, only Jordan and Egypt seem to have legitimate claims to nuclear power. Jordan possesses no oil, and Egypt’s reserves are shrinking as current oil-prices call for selling rather than using petroleum.
Nonetheless, Egypt’s real intentions are by no means clear, since Iran’s prospective nuclear power status in addition to Israel’s could affect its influence in the region. Ultimately, interest in developing a domestic “fuel-cycle” is what would determine whether the world ought to worry about a nuclear Egypt, or for that matter, about any of the other aspirants.

The Christian Science Monitor, November 1, 2007