Guest post: Another view on the UAE nuke deal

I may be disqualified from replying to Joe Cirincione's article, since I have actually been to the U.A.E. and discussed its nuclear program with the people actually implementing it. This will take all the fun out of any comments I make. But the piece does raise a number of questions that I think are worth addressing.

1. Is there a nuclear arms race in the Gulf and Middle East? Is interest in nuclear power really driven by the need to counter the Iranian program?

It is probably not coincidental that so many countries in the region, many of them Sunni, have suddenly decided to pursue nuclear power. However, it is probably also not coincidental that these grandiose plans coincided with $150-a-barrel oil and with the fact that booming electricity demand was causing them to consume the lifeblood of their economies at home. But, are these countries really racing and if so is nuclear power for electricity generation the way they are racing to match the Iranians? For the most part, I'd say no.