Nuclear-free Middle East

So long as nuclear policies are dictated by considerations of military security there is little prospect of unilateral disarmament. However regional nuclear-free zones (NFZs) may be mutually beneficial. Five nuclear-free-zone treaties have been signed: Latin America and the Caribbean South Pacific Africa S E Asia Central Asia Antarctica is also effectively nuclear-free since nuclear testing has been banned in Antarctica.

The 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agreed that the UN Secretary-General would convene in 2012 a conference of all Middle East Nations on the establishment of a Middle East Zone free from nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction. Finland was appointed as a neutral host nation, and the conference was planned for Helsinki in 2012. Israel was reluctant to participate, the Arab Spring dictated other priorities in the Middle East, so the Helsinki Conference was postponed. A nongovernmental conference, "If Israel won't come to Helsinki, Helsinki will come to Israel", was held in Haifa, Israel in December 2013.
In the case of the Middle East, Israel alone has nuclear weapons, and understandably regards them as a military asset.

• Note Israeli anxiety over Iran.
• The interim Geneva accord
• Prospects for a nuclear-free Middle East.
• Obstacles to a nuclear-free Middle East.
• The Nuclear Prohibition Treaty