Fault Lines Episode 37: The Middle East Goes Nuclear

Lester Munson
Monday, August 17, 2020, 11:23 AM

The UAE builds the first civilian nuclear reactor in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia moves down the path to building a nuclear weapon. Dana, Jamil, Jodi, and Les discuss the geopolitical ramifications of a nuclear powered Middle East. Are 123 agreements useful anymore? Will the United States be able to prevent nuclear proliferation? How does china play into all of this? All these questions and more answered in this week’s Fault Lines.

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The UAE builds the first civilian nuclear reactor in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia moves down the path to building a nuclear weapon. Dana, Jamil, Jodi, and Les discuss the geopolitical ramifications of a nuclear powered Middle East. Are 123 agreements useful anymore? Will the United States be able to prevent nuclear proliferation? How does china play into all of this? All these questions and more answered in this week’s Fault Lines.

In our under the radar segment, Jamil highlights the changing tide of U.S.-China relations, Dana discusses the explosion that rocked Beirut, Jodi examines the election in Belarus, and Les laments the lack of foreign aid on the table for the next round of coronavirus legislation currently under debate on Capitol Hill.

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Lester Munson is Vice President, International at BGR Group, a leading government relations firm in Washington, D.C., where he consults with foreign governments, corporations, and advocacy groups. Lester joined BGR Group after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He was most recently Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and as a principal on the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.

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