Ballistische Raketenrüstung im Nahen und Mittleren Osten

In: Orient: deutsche Zeitschrift für Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur des Orients = German journal for politics, economics and culture of the Middle East, Band 44, Heft 1, S. 99-109

Abstract

Ballistic rockets systems were introduced into the Near East in the 1960s, but it is only since the end of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) that trends in rearmament, which had first been hinted at in the years and decades before, finally managed to dominate: in the strategic doctrines of individual actors, the development, possession, and the fitness for use of ballistic carrier weapons gained a central role in the defence against regional threats. These rockets could be fitted out to carry conventional, nuclear, or chemical warheads. This analysis firstly looks at the current status of the weapon proliferation in the Near East and the reasons for it. Then, the political counter-measures of the regional and extra-regional actors are discussed. (Orient/DÜI)