The Nuclear Factor (Part 2)
A critical albeit inadvertent ramification of the current US-Israel Combine’s war on Iran will be the emergence of the nuclear factor in the ME’s evolving geostrategic environment. The US is adamant upon denying Iran the capacity to have a nuclear weapon, albeit without prejudice to Israel’s known status as a nuclear weapon state. The blatant dichotomy, the vile contradiction in this policy, is mind-boggling, outrageous. The US seems fixated upon foisting a lopsided, unfair nuclear regime on the region. Is it still doable for the US? It seems to have lost a lot in geopolitical influence and geostrategic clout - as epitomised in the current war on Iran. However, Israel’s status as the only nuclear power in the region creates the skewed strategic environment where all other states in the region will have to live with an ostensible nuclear shadow looming relentlessly over them. They will thus become permanently vulnerable to potential nuclear blackmail and even aggression. This rather untenable state of affairs will destabilise the geopolitical and geostrategic domains of the ME irrevocably. The regional states will feel constrained to secure and defend themselves. Sooner rather than later, they will feel compelled to counter it proactively and aggressively. They will aim to either equalise or neutralise Israel’s nuclear superiority. They might thus exercise either one or all options available to them; one, kick-start their own nuclear weapon programmes; two, acquire nuclear weapons; or three, seek nuclear umbrellas from allies!
A Nuclear Umbrella, also........
