A former operative in the CIA's most clandestine division is pulled back in to help prevent Armageddon in the Middle East An unexpected phone call from the Pentagon propels "superpatriot" Jake Conlan back into the deadly world of international espionage and "black ops" he thought he had left behind him. Jake is asked to mount an emergency, highly dangerous mission inside Iran. His mission: to develop intel that can indisputably prove that Iran has nuclear-launch capabilities and bring down the current Iranian regime. Traveling from Paris to Amsterdam and then undercover into Iran itself, Jake connects with the Iranian covert opposition only to discover there is a traitor on his team. With a ticking clock counting down, Jake has to risk his mission, and his life, to uncover the traitor, and stop an imminent attack on Israel, for it will be full-scale world war if he fails. Fans of Alistair Maclean, Adam Hall, and Brad Thor will find themselves held hostage by The Natanz Directive, an action-packed thriller from former CIA agent Wayne Simmons and coauthor Mark Graham.

A former operative in the CIA's most clandestine division is pulled back in to help prevent Armageddon in the Middle East An unexpected phone call from the Pentagon propels "superpatriot" Jake Conlan back into the deadly world of international espionage and "black ops" he thought he had left behind him. Jake is asked to mount an emergency, highly dangerous mission inside Iran. His mission: to develop intel that can indisputably prove that Iran has nuclear-launch capabilities and bring down the current Iranian regime. Traveling from Paris to Amsterdam and then undercover into Iran itself, Jake connects with the Iranian covert opposition only to discover there is a traitor on his team. With a ticking clock counting down, Jake has to risk his mission, and his life, to uncover the traitor, and stop an imminent attack on Israel, for it will be full-scale world war if he fails. Fans of Alistair Maclean, Adam Hall, and Brad Thor will find themselves held hostage by The Natanz Directive, an action-packed thriller from former CIA agent Wayne Simmons and coauthor Mark Graham.

Iran's nuclear program is one of this century's principal foreign policy challenges. Despite U.S., Israeli, and allied efforts, Iran has an extensive enrichment program and likely has the technical capacity to produce at least one nuclear bomb if it so chose. This study assesses U.S. policy options, identifies a way forward, and considers how the United States might best mitigate the negative international effects of a nuclear-armed Iran.

The first systematic look at the different strategies that states employ in their pursuit of nuclear weapons Much of the work on nuclear proliferation has focused on why states pursue nuclear weapons. The question of how states pursue nuclear weapons has received little attention. Seeking the Bomb is the first book to analyze this topic by examining which strategies of nuclear proliferation are available to aspirants, why aspirants select one strategy over another, and how this matters to international politics. Looking at a wide range of nations, from India and Japan to the Soviet Union and North Korea to Iraq and Iran, Vipin Narang develops an original typology of proliferation strategies—hedging, sprinting, sheltered pursuit, and hiding. Each strategy of proliferation provides different opportunities for the development of nuclear weapons, while at the same time presenting distinct vulnerabilities that can be exploited to prevent states from doing so. Narang delves into the crucial implications these strategies have for nuclear proliferation and international security. Hiders, for example, are especially disruptive since either they successfully attain nuclear weapons, irrevocably altering the global power structure, or they are discovered, potentially triggering serious crises or war, as external powers try to halt or reverse a previously clandestine nuclear weapons program. As the international community confronts the next generation of potential nuclear proliferators, Seeking the Bomb explores how global conflict and stability are shaped by the ruthlessly pragmatic ways states choose strategies of proliferation.

Includes its Annual report to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

We depend on information and information technology (IT) to make many of our day-to-day tasks easier and more convenient. Computers play key roles in transportation, health care, banking, and energy. Businesses use IT for payroll and accounting, inventory and sales, and research and development. Modern military forces use weapons that are increasingly coordinated through computer-based networks. Cybersecurity is vital to protecting all of these functions. Cyberspace is vulnerable to a broad spectrum of hackers, criminals, terrorists, and state actors. Working in cyberspace, these malevolent actors can steal money, intellectual property, or classified information; impersonate law-abiding parties for their own purposes; damage important data; or deny the availability of normally accessible services. Cybersecurity issues arise because of three factors taken together - the presence of malevolent actors in cyberspace, societal reliance on IT for many important functions, and the presence of vulnerabilities in IT systems. What steps can policy makers take to protect our government, businesses, and the public from those would take advantage of system vulnerabilities? At the Nexus of Cybersecurity and Public Policy offers a wealth of information on practical measures, technical and nontechnical challenges, and potential policy responses. According to this report, cybersecurity is a never-ending battle; threats will evolve as adversaries adopt new tools and techniques to compromise security. Cybersecurity is therefore an ongoing process that needs to evolve as new threats are identified. At the Nexus of Cybersecurity and Public Policy is a call for action to make cybersecurity a public safety priority. For a number of years, the cybersecurity issue has received increasing public attention; however, most policy focus has been on the short-term costs of improving systems. In its explanation of the fundamentals of cybersecurity and the discussion of potential policy responses, this book will be a resource for policy makers, cybersecurity and IT professionals, and anyone who wants to understand threats to cyberspace.

Accidents and natural disasters involving nuclear power plants such as Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and the recent meltdown at Fukushima are rare, but their effects are devastating enough to warrant increased vigilance in addressing safety concerns. Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control Systems for Safety and Security evaluates the risks inherent to nuclear power and methods of preventing accidents through computer control systems and other such emerging technologies. Students and scholars as well as operators and designers will find useful insight into the latest security technologies with the potential to make the future of nuclear energy clean, safe, and reliable.