About Us

Arms Control and Regional Security for the Middle East is a professional blog that seeks to raise global awareness about the myriad of collective security challenges facing the countries of the Middle East-North Africa region. The site is a public tool designed to inform publics, scholars, and decisionmakers in the region about theories and practices of arms control and ways to promote them. While the web contains numerous sites and portals pertaining to arms control and nonproliferation, none specialize in the Middle East. Arms Control and Regional Security for the Middle East is the first of its kind, solely devoted to that strategically vital region of the world. Given the all-inclusive nature of the field of arms control, the blog aims to be comprehensive, covering all the issues that are listed under “categories.”

 

Bilal Y. Saab and Chen Kane, co-authors and co-editors of Arms Control and Regional Security for the Middle East, specialize in the politics and security of the Middle East and together bring more than 25 years of professional experience. Saab and Kane plan to use the blog to advance three basic goals:

 

a- Cover and interpret current news and issues related to arms control and regional security in the Middle East.

b- Solicit contributions from scholars and practitioners from the Middle East and overseas on topics of concern to the blog.

c- Provide a professional, public forum for dialogue among authors and practitioners from the Middle East.

 

 

Bilal Y. Saab, founder and editor in chief of Arms Control and Regional Security for the Middle East, is Senior Fellow for Middle East Security at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. Previously he served as the founding executive director and head of research of the Washington, DC office of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), a Gulf strategy and security consultancy based in Dubai, UAE. With IHS Jane’s, Saab is also a monthly contributor to a number of publications including Janes Intelligence Weekly Jane’s Intelligence Review, and Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst. Saab has more than 12 years of experience as a Middle East analyst and corporate manager. He was Non-Resident Scholar (previously a visiting fellow) with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in the Monterey Institute of International Studies, where he focused on arms control, military affairs, and regional security in the Middle East. Prior to that, he held research analysis positions at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the Middle East Institute. Saab is a prolific scholar and regular media commentator on the Middle East. He is frequently called upon to brief U.S. and European government officials on Middle East affairs. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the American University of Beirut (AUB), a Masters in International Security Studies from the University of St Andrews, a Masters in International Security from the University of Maryland in College Park, and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland. For more on Saab’s bio, list of publications, speaking engagements, and media appearances, please visit his personal website at www.bilal-y-saab.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chen Kane is Senior Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in the Monterey Institute of International Studies, where she specializes in nonproliferation of WMD and global terrorism, with a particular focus on the Middle East. She also studies means to strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s safeqguards system and the projected expansion of nuclear energy in the Middle East. Dr. Kane serves as an advisor to the National Nuclear Security Administration and as an adjunct professor with the National Defense University. She held research positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Dr. Kane earned a B.A. in sociology, anthropology, and political science from Tel Aviv University, an M.A. in security studies from Tel Aviv University, and a M.A.L.D and Ph.D. from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

 

 

 

 

Arms Control and Regional Security for the Middle East is a website run by Bilal Y. Saab and Chen Kane. It is not affiliated with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). In other words, this is not a CNS product. Saab and Kane are solely responsible for the content of the website and the views expressed on the pages of the website do not represent those of CNS.