Pre-Emption and Precedent

In 1981, Israel conducted a pre-emptive strike on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor. Then Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear reactor at al-Kibar in 2007. Today, Israel is facing a new challenge as it considers Iran's nuclear program. This thesis is a comparative case study analyzing how Israel utilized its instruments of national power to deal with the threats in Iraq and Syria and how the international community responded after Israel destroyed their nuclear reactors. After determining the similarities and differences between cases, this thesis draws implications for Israel's ongoing efforts to deal with Iran's nuclear program. This study is significant because it is the first comparative case study to analyze Israel's experiences dealing with Iraq and Syria's nuclear programs. The findings of this study offer insight to US strategic planners as they consider strategies and timelines for dealing with Tehran's nuclear program, recognizing that Israel is willing to act unilaterally as historical events attest. The findings will assist US decision makers as they formulate policy concerning Iran, Israel, and the uncertain road ahead.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.