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Improved nuclear reactor configurations that address major concerns of environmentalists and safety analysts are discussed. In addition to social acceptance, these new modes of power generation have economic potential to become the dominant producers of energy in the twenty‐first century. The class of power generation with this promise is the high temperature gas reactor (HTGR); the variant we focus on is the pebble‐bed modular reactor (PBMR). We also focus on using nuclear power as an energy source for desalinating seawater. Finally, the case is made that HTGR reactors are ideal for supplying the high‐temperature heat needed for manufacturing molecular hydrogen, a leading candidate for clean fuel consumption. These three themes are developed in a broad context with the objective of recommending policy actions dealing with global warming, public health, and economic opportunity.

The purpose of this paper is to postulate a political structure for Israel and a Palestinian State 25‐50 years from now.

The paper speculates that a Middle East Union modeled after the EU could enable stability and prosperity on a scale not now envisioned.

The paper speculates that oil will no longer be the global fuel of choice in 50 years. It is also speculated that long‐ and short‐range missile defenses will be reliable unlike today's systems. These will create new opportunities for successful collaboration in the Middle East.

The paper speculates that transportation, water, and power will be the key new elements of infrastructure needed to facilitate a Middle East Union. Nuclear desalination is postulated for the water and power and a light rail system connecting 15 cities in the Palestinian areas will be required.

This analysis develops and predicts a politically controversial idea, namely that nuclear fission power will be the dominant energy resource of the 21st century. Abundant energy enables higher and more efficient utilization of resources. Energy drives the engines of industrial and food production, transportation, building construction, space heating, transformation of landscapes, recreation, etc. This article compares other energy alternatives with the potential of nuclear fission power. It predicts that several hundred nuclear plants, each nominally of 10 gigawatts capacity, could supply the world’s energy requirements without creation of polluting greenhouse gases. Moreover, the superabundance of power this would represent could feed the world, supply its drinking water, and raise the per capita income and standard of living to levels where total human population would level off at an acceptable number. However, realization of such benefits requires unprecedented world cooperation, and these issues are also treated in this article.

The strategic standoff, known as mutual assured destruction (MAD) by the USA and nuclear parity by Russia, has been overtaken by the advance of technology and the demise of the Soviet Union. Pacing technology is being exploited by an increasingly mature missile defense. If implemented comprehensively, it could have widespread and revolutionary ramifications. This paper seeks to address these issues.

The article describes the historical background of America's nuclear strategy, from Eisenhower to the Obama Administration. It then traces the history of missile defense and arms limitation and develops the context of the interaction between them. It is found that nuclear arsenals should not be reduced to zero because that would put rogue nations in a position where they could intimidate the world. Finally, the evolution of computer chip technology, as embodied by Moore's law, is traced. The recommendation is made to proceed with the reduction of nuclear stockpiles to the level of a few hundred each, and to proceed with the implementation of comprehensive missile defenses.

The most important is the practicality of reducing nuclear arsenals to a few hundred on either side. That strategy is called “moral deterrence” herein. It is moral because, as opposed to MAD, it does not hold extensive civilian populations of the world hostage. At the same time, it is a sufficiently strong deterrent to prevent rogue nations from acquiring and threatening with illicit nuclear weapons. Moral deterrence is a better strategic option than the “nuclear‐free world” advocated by the Obama administration since nuclear‐free does not preclude intimidation by rogues.

Technology enabling reliable missile defense is based on high‐speed, large‐capacity, miniaturized computer chips. It permits fast and reliable computations that can process real‐time data from radar, infrared, and optical sensors so that a hit‐to‐kill capability can be realized. It also permits the implementation of deformable mirrors for the adaptive optics used in high‐energy lasers. Much of the technology for modern missile defense flowed from the Strategic Defense Initiative; it was not predicted by the critics of three decades ago.

The principal aspects of originality involve the analytical tradeoffs between the nuclear stockpiles of the principal powers and the viability of missile defense. The analysis indicates that if the stockpiles are reduced to a few hundred each, then even imperfect missile defense is very effective in providing protection, providing it is triply redundant. Stockpiles reduced to ten or less leave the principal powers vulnerable to intimidation by rogue nations, and should be avoided. The article also finds that missile defense has been enabled technologically by Moore's law, and that it can be expected to improve further by the year 2020.

The objective of this article is to propose the use of nuclear power to provide electricity and wide‐scale desalination to meet future population growth in Israel and a Palestinian State.

The extent of future water and power shortages in Israel and a Palestinian States expounded in the article and various methods for alleviating these shortages are explored. Comparisons are made with historical approaches.

Nuclear pebble‐bed technology is found to be the most cost‐effective way to energize future water and power needs. It is safe, non‐polluting, and terrorist resistant.

This article makes the case that abundant water and power in the Middle East is both a pre‐requisite and a stimulant for peace in the region.

The article aims to explore the potential for pebble‐bed high‐temperature gas reactor (HTGR) technology to meet possible future energy shortages.

The historical evolution of nuclear power is reviewed followed by empirical data that demonstrate the finite nature of oil and gas reserves. The characteristics of HTGR technology are then explored.

A pebble‐bed HTGR ameliorates nuclear waste disposal issues, does not disgorge large quantities of excess heat, is terrorist‐resistant, solves persistent problems concerning weapon proliferation, and is inherently safe.

The article makes the case for the US Department of Energy to take the lead in demonstrating a pebble‐bed HTGR plant to overcome industry reluctance to invest in this technology.

Russian dominance of the Eurasian natural gas delivery system has put the independence of the EU's foreign policy at risk. Although Europe is struggling to counteract the threat, Russia appears to be winning the game. This paper aims to recommend significant measures to reverse the trend.

This is a discussion paper exploring the issues involved.

Russia's stranglehold already has acquired 25 percent of the European market. Moreover, it is installing four new pipelines, and plans to increase its market share substantially. In response, Europe is building or planning three new pipelines. The author recommends additionally: strategic gas reserves, anti‐trust prosecution, financial and political inducements, and offering WTO membership to Russia in exchange for concessions.

Europe can win the great natural gas pipeline game if it is played with commitment. Europe must focus on the big prize, natural gas independence.

This original research viewpoint contains suggestions for the EU and Europe to increase their energy security.

The purpose of this paper is to review technologies for nuclear power and to assess their suitability in pursuit of clean, safe and secure energy independence.

Technologies and potentials associated with the industry standard, light water reactors (LWR), as well as fast breeder reactors and TRISO‐fueled reactors, are reviewed. The key features and issues include: waste disposal and toxicity, heat pollution, vulnerability to terrorist attack, proliferation of weapon materials, global fuel depletion, safety, and cost.

The paper finds that, on balance, TRISO‐fueled reactors with helium as coolant offer solutions to the issues causing public nuclear concerns, and since they have significant cost benefits they should be the design of choice for new installations.

Nuclear power can make a contribution to rising energy demands but raise many concerns. This paper considers the principal types of nuclear reactors and analyzes them for their potential to address those important public concerns.

Contemporary debate is increasingly focused on ICT and sustainability, especially in relation to the modern configuration of urban and metropolitan areas in the so-called smartization process. The purpose of this paper is to observe the connections between smart city features as conceptualized in the framework proposed by Giffinger et al. (2007) and new technologies as tools, and sustainability as the goal.

The connections are identified through a content analysis performed using NVivo on official reports issued by organizations, known as industry players within smart city projects, listed in the Navigant Research Report 2013.

The results frame ICT and sustainability as “across-the-board elements” because they connect with all of the services provided to communities in a smart city and play a key role in smart city planning. Specifically, sustainability and ICT can be seen as tools to enable the smartization process.

An all-in-one perspective emerges by embedding sustainability and ICT in smart interventions; further research could be conduct through direct interviews to city managers and industry players in order to understand their attitude towards the development of smart city projects.

Potential approaches emerging from this research are useful to city managers or large corporations partnering with local agencies in order to increase the opportunities for the long-term success of smart projects.

The results of this paper delineate a new research path looking at the development of new models that integrate drivers, ICT, and sustainability in an all-in-one perspective and new indicators for the evaluation of the interventions.