Israel, the Middle East and Nuclear Weapons is intended for students who are interested to learn about Israel's national security policy in the context of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. The course is divided into three parts, and combines approaches based on historical research, political science, and science and technology studies. The first part of the course will examine the different factors which shape Israeli national security policy, and the role technology and innovation play within this process. The second part of the course will examine the evolution of Israel's nuclear program and it related nuclear policy. We will place this in historical and theoretical perspective within the academic corpus of literature which deals with nuclear proliferation. The third part of the course will focus on the study of counter-proliferation operations. Using nuclear proliferation literature and intelligence studies literature, we will chart the evolution of counter-proliferation operations, i.e. operations targeting the nuclear program of hostile actors, and the development of Israel's counter-proliferation doctrine. We will place our discussion in the context of the study of special operations and intelligence collaboration.
4 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-SI
Israel, the Middle East and Nuclear Weapons is intended for students who are interested to learn about Israel's national security policy in the context of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. The course is divided into three parts, and combines approaches based on historical research, political science, and science and technology studies. The first part of the course will examine the different factors which shape Israeli national security policy, and the role technology and innovation play within this process. The second part of the course will examine the evolution of Israel's nuclear program and it related nuclear policy. We will place this in historical and theoretical perspective within the academic corpus of literature which deals with nuclear proliferation. The third part of the course will focus on the study of counter-proliferation operations. Using nuclear proliferation literature and intelligence studies literature, we will chart the evolution of counter-proliferation operations, i.e. operations targeting the nuclear program of hostile actors, and the development of Israel's counter-proliferation doctrine. We will place our discussion in the context of the study of special operations and intelligence collaboration.
Offered in Autumn 2025 at Stanford University.