Nuclear dealing with the UAE

Henry Sokolski of the Ploughshares-funded Nonproliferation Policy Education Center advises circumspection before Congress approves the first civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), drafted during the Bush administration. The deal invokes voluntary commitment not to produce nuclear-fuel and refers to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, without requiring them. Sokolski writes, “With a state like the UAE, which has no ambitions to develop nuclear weapons, this is not a problem. But the UAE agreement is meant to serve as a pattern for those with other Middle Eastern states.” He recommends postponing the deal pending a full policy review, evaluating how to make the nonproliferation commitments binding.