Best Bang for the Buck? Capacity Building for Strategic Trade Management of CBRN Materials in the Middle East and North Africa

摘要

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, several states are gunning for commercial or military-grade nuclear technology today. Among these states are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen. While some states envision enhancing their energy capacities and expand the energy mix by introducing nuclear into the fold, other states are apparently locked in a race to be on an even keel with or even one-up their neighbors regarding nuclear weapons capability. In recent history, the MENA region has been plagued by terrorist activity, with groups such as the Islamic State (IS) exhibiting a strong presence. A few select countries in the region such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Algeria, and Iran have published detailed reports on their compliance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 that, among other things, specifies measures for ensuring strategic trade management (STM). The Gulf Cooperation Council and the League of Arab States are also harping on the much-needed efforts under UNSCR 1540 in the region. However, certain states have remained 'disbelievers' - they are neither in a position to implement the STM regulations nor do they buy into this theory at all. The heinous question staring us in the face thus is what if CBRN and other potentially martial technology is diverted from their regular course - be it medical isotopes from hospitals, industrial sources from construction sites, dual-use nuclear commodities, high-speed computers, sophisticated machine tools, and titanium - and clandestinely or through deception end up in terrorist hands? The next fundamental question being, are the present STM regulations and capabilities in these countries sufficiently mature to tackle such challenges and foresee new ones? Finally, are the time, energy and resources being spent by states such as the United States of America or Japan, for instance, and national agglomerations such as the European Union being utilized in the most efficient and effective ways possible? This paper seeks to identify existing lacunae in the present STM architecture in the Middle East and suggest practical denouements to cement the glaring caveats.