Year 2024-2025 / Second Semester
Teaching staff : Eve Benhamou (CIENS)
Validation : 3 ECTS
Presentation
This course introduces students to the main nuclear and strategic issues in the Middle East in two stages. During the Cold War, the region was the theatre of rivalries between the two superpowers and their respective alliances. Israel developed a secret nuclear programme with the help of France and went on to become one of the United States’ main allies in the region, while the Arab states armed themselves with Soviet assistance. This period laid the foundations for a strategic imbalance, the repercussions of which continued to have a powerful impact after the Cold War. The emergence of the Iranian nuclear crisis from 2002 onwards gave rise to heightened international concern and regional tensions, alongside an intensification of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We will examine the impact of these dynamics on regional security, strategic alliances and the balance of power in the Middle East today.
3 ECTS, 6 sessions of 2 hours.