Science and Technology to Advance Regional Security in the Middle East and Central Asia

This paper is concerned with the promotion and advancement of regional security in the Middle East and Central Asia through the development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation on targeted scientific and technical projects. It is widely recognized that increasing tensions and instability in many parts of the world emphasize--or reemphasize--a need to seek and promote regional security in these areas. At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a national security research facility operated for the US Department of Energy, we are pursuing an effort to use science and technology as a ''low risk'' means of engagement in regions of strategic importance to the United States. In particular, we are developing collaborations and cooperative projects among (and between) national laboratory scientists in the US and our various counterparts in the countries of interest.