Weapons Of Mass Destruction In The Middle East; Doomsday Weapons In The Hands Of Many: The Arms Control Challenge Of The '90s
Bailey, a former official, writes with broad strokes across the clutch of proliferation issues, from how nuclear weapons are made to what the United States might do to restrict the spread of ballistic missiles. Hers is an accessible and affordable introduction to the subject for the newly interested, or worried. By contrast, Cordesman is a military expert, often seen on television during the Gulf War, who knows the Middle East well. His case studies are detailed, his knowledge is that of the insider, and his lessons-about arms control, for instance-are always thoughtful and sometimes challenge our intuition.
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The Clinton administration supports crippling economic sanctions that punish the Iraqi people but seems ready to live with the demise of international inspections to monitor Saddam Hussein's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs. Washington has it exactly backward. It should offer Baghdad a blunt trade: lightened sanctions in return for renewed, intrusive arms inspections. The sweeping sanctions regime does nothing to advance U.S. interests, undermine Saddam, or contain Iraq. Leaving Saddam's arsenal unwatched is folly. Better to have arms inspections without sanctions than sanctions without arms inspections.
The specter of weapons of mass destruction being used against America looms larger today than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis. The World Trade Center bombing scarcely hints at the enormity of the danger. America is prepared only for conventional terrorism, not a nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons catastrophe. With the right approach and organization, however, the United States can be ready. Herewith a plan to reorganize the U.S. government to ensure that it can handle the threats of the next century.
After the Cold War, the demands on American leadership are no less stern than they were in Dean Acheson's day. Present again at the creation, U.S. diplomacy must pass a series of tests -- of vision, pragmatism, spine, and principle -- to build a foundation for a new world. This will mean encouraging democracy, stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction, working to shore up the international financial system, engaging Beijing, and standing up to Baghdad and Belgrade. But America needs resources to lead, and Congress has foreign policy living hand-to-mouth. America cannot afford to abdicate its world role.

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