As the pace of technology increases, so does the potential development of disruptive technology-related threats. However, by enacting proactive safety and security measures during the window of opportunity, a government can cost-effectively protect an unsuspecting and ill-prepared society before an emerging disruptive technology is widely adopted without stifling its future development. The basis for the threat mitigation approach described herein is to inject the protective measures into the innovation cycle prior to a technology being adopted by the early majority in Everett Rogers's...

This book examines the main decisions taken in the 1994, 2001, and 2010 Nuclear Posture Reviews regarding U.S. nuclear capabilities and declaratory strategy, and the policy debates that followed the publication of each NPR, focusing on deterrence and other objectives of U.S. national security strategy. It analyzes and compares the post-Cold War NPRs to understand how each administration attempted to shape and direct policy, and how key issues were framed and addressed by policy makers and commentators. The concluding chapter identifies continuities and discontinuities in the NPRs, and...

A nuclear threshold state is one that could quickly operationalize its "peaceful" nuclear program into one capable of producing a nuclear weapon. This book compares two known threshold states, Japan and Brazil, with Iran to determine if the Islamic Republic could also be labeled a threshold state. Furthermore, it highlights the implications such a status could have on U.S. nonproliferation policy. Although Iran's nuclear program is mired in controversy, it relates to those of Japan and Brazil. While not maintaining as robust of a program and often conflicting with the international community,...

Democratic civilian control of the armed forces is an essential component to a free and open democracy. The states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) rely on civilian control to encourage democratization efforts worldwide. This book assesses how the politicians of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) managed to establish civilian control of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) after decades of military tutelage. Through a combination of constitutional, judicial, and military reforms, by 2011 the AKP had established control over the military. How did the AKP succeed where other...

This book uses a grounded theory approach to study the phenomenon of hacktivism and seeks to understand how the Internet has evolved to become a disproportionate and significant platform for disruption. Technological advancements involving the Internet, such as social media, have provided a significant advantage for social activists to advance their causes and enables them to recruit large masses with little effort. This platform also provides the distinct advantage of anonymity and increased availability of malicious tools and malware that, if directed toward U.S. critical infrastructure,...

Controlling the outbreak of epidemic diseases such as influenza has always been a concern for the United States. Traditional surveillance tools such as the ILINet and Virologic provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with influenza surveillance statistics at a lag of 1 to 2 weeks. The CDC requires a tool that can forecast the level of influenza activity. The rise in the popularity of social media websites such as Flickr, Twitter and Facebook has transformed the web into an interactive sharing platform. The huge amount of generated unstructured data has become an...

Hindu-Muslim violence has plagued India for centuries. Deaths caused by Hindu-Muslim violence constitute a small proportion of the Indian population; therefore the historical precedence and incendiary nature of this violence in India is cause for concern. Additionally, because India is geographically positioned between two majority Muslim states, India has a vested interest in addressing its violence problem so that it does not create national-level disturbances as it has in the past. This book conducts a comparison of Hindu-Muslim violence in India at the national- and state-levels over two...

The listening post/observation post is a method employed by infantry units in combat to increase battlefield situational awareness and prevent surprise by the enemy. This technique is costly to the employing unit in terms of manpower requirements and increased risk to friendly personnel. To reduce these costs, we created a prototype, the Mobile Situational Awareness Tool, that combined commercial off-the-shelf components with wireless unattended ground sensors for the purpose of automating the listening post/observation post for the tactical infantry unit. The prototype system incorporated...

This book conducts a policy analysis exploring how current fire department policies can be modified to optimize employee availability to lead to higher staffing levels and lower sick leave and injury leave usage. Work schedule modification, alternative staffing models, and the reduction of nonproductive time through health and wellness initiatives are the three options examined in this book by using data from the Dayton (Ohio) Fire Department. The findings of this research are that schedule modification and the reduction of nonproductive time by initiating wellness programs may increase...

Prior to implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), tens of millions of U.S. citizens were without health insurance coverage. Without health insurance, health care can be unaffordable or inaccessible, or both. Our ability to obtain health care is part of the homeland security preparedness puzzle. If the Affordable Care Act increases health insurance coverage and helps to control costs as promised, it has enormous potential to bolster homeland security simultaneously. This book asks, "How will the implementation of the Affordable Care Act positively impact homeland security in its...