Think Tank 7

Dr. David Loren's work on the 36 barrel/600 rounds per minute Metalstorm led to an epiphany that he no longer wanted to create inventions of destruction for the military. But David has lived a sheltered life behind the barricades of a government-contracted think tank and has never directly been forced to come face to face with the deadly consequences of his actions... until now.

GENETICS Two months after the flashy and brilliant escape from the DARPA funded military think he used to call his home, slacker/genius Dr. David Loren has willingly returned to his lab to continue his work that he not long ago wished to be no part of. When a weapons designer loses his moral compass, who are the true victims of his creations? Collects THINK TANK #4-8 and THINK TANK MILITARY DOSSIER #1.

Why do US and EU think tanks diverge in their roles, priorities, and main constituencies? Providing the first substantive analytical comparison of think tanks in Washington and Brussels, this book explores the differences that exist and why they developed. Two principal variables are identified – institutional credibility and political culture – as a measure of comparison between the two think tank models. Supranational think tanks have an inherent credibility with the institutions of the EU, which allows them to direct their resources and efforts to activities and outputs where they hold a comparative advantage. US think tanks lack such institutional recognition and so need to prove their credibility to their main constituencies. The result is that an adversarial and individualistic political culture has informed the norms and activities of Washington think tanks while the consensus-driven and collectivist political culture of Europe has influenced supranational think tanks. Think tanks are far from newcomers to the public policy scene, but our broader understanding of their role, structure and how they assess their own achievements is not yet fully developed. By providing a framework within which to analyse this, this book will be of interest to academics, students and policy experts working within public policy, comparative politics and political science more generally.

Genius slacker Dr. David Loren outsmarts the government, the military, and the all of the brightest minds in science to escape the think tank he used to call his home and his job. But his tropical retreat isn't as secluded as he would hope!

How do think tanks influence Western policies toward Russia? The influence of think tanks in Washington has grown immensely over the past decades in terms of producing research papers, engaging with the media, and having their staff enter government. The ideal purpose and appeal of think tanks is their ability to function as a bridge between academics, the media, the public, and decision-makers. Political decision-makers are expected to be experts across a wide area of governance which becomes increasingly difficult as the world becomes more complex. Acquiring advice and enhancing competencies through cooperation with scholars at universities can be challenging as academics tend to focus on narrow research questions that take place within a wider discussion of theory and method. Think tanks respond to this challenge as institutions that provide focused research studies and policy papers to address specific and current challenges. The negative aspect of think tanks is the power they wield, from controlling information to functioning as a waiting room for politicians out of office. Information is power, and a think tanks business model has been established that sells political influence in Washington and manufactures consent among the public. The military-industrial complex is the dominant donor to think tanks, which results in a bias toward military solutions and perpetuating conflict. Russia remains a leading adversary of the West and has sustained Washington’s exorbitant military spending over many decades. Think tanks accordingly have a great incentive to push for a confrontational posture towards Russia as they operate in an industry where conflicts are profitable and peace produces losses A mutually acceptable post-Cold War settlement threatened the revenue of one of the largest and most influential industries in the US, which was reversed as a result of NATO expansion and renewed tensions with Russia. This book explores how the think tanks function, and how their growing role has influenced US policies toward Russia.

Dr. Perry Annister, a Washington Think Tank wunderkind partner bidding on the President's 2050 Project, delivers a speech at Harvard recommending that elected Government Officials should have Government Sciences Degrees. Harvard, then Stanford, publish the speech hoping to add profitable courses to their curricula. The University and Presidential endorsements unleash stormy responses, foreign and domestic, from politicians to oil and drug cartels, that terrorize Perry to stop him from disrupting their operations. Hunted and pursued by Mafia and covert Intelligence operatives, Perry and his beautiful PhD fiancee, Jackie, desperately run for their lives. Traumatized and wounded, they frantically fight back and escape several times, using brainpower, athleticism and unseen help to outwit merciless killers. Realizing their danger, the President appoints NSA/Secret Service Agents to protect the beleaguered pair as they dodge car-bombs and bullets, from Las Vegas to the White House, until the President himself unveils a surprising life-saving solution.Author Bio: Bob Cohn owned and operated a National Boutique Advertising and Marketing Agency, with offices in Chicago and New York, employing 60 professionals, 20 of whom were writers. The Agency specialized in creating, developing and marketing new products. The author of novels, To Catch a Catch and Comet Enemy, and non-fiction books, War Squared, Aviahomospionics and They Called It Pilot Error, Bob is now writing special interest novels and non-fiction books drawn from his experiences developing unique products, and accessing the U.S. Laboratory Consortium plus hi-tech private and Government agencies. Bob and his wife, Sylvia, live in Arizona. Publisher's website: http: //sbpra.com/BobCoh

Across the globe, there are more than four thousand policy institutes, or think tanks, that research or advocate for economic and social development. Yet the relationship between these organizations and the policies they influence is not well understood. How Think Tanks Shape Social Development Policies examines case studies drawn from a range of political and economic systems worldwide to provide a detailed understanding of how think tanks can have an impact on issues such as education policy, infrastructure, environment and sustainable development, economic reform, poverty alleviation, agricultural and land development, and social policy. Each chapter provides an overview of the approaches and organizational structures of specific think tanks, as well as the political, economic, and social opportunities and the challenges of the environments in which they operate. The contributors study the stages of innovative think-tank-aided strategies implemented in highly industrialized world powers like the United States and Russia, emerging countries such as China, India, Brazil, and South Korea, and developing nations that include Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Accompanied by an extensive introduction to contextualize the history and theory of policy institutes, this comprehensive comparison of policy success stories will be instructive and transferable to other think tanks around the globe. Contributors: Assefa Admassie, Celso Castro, Kristina Costa, Francisco Cravioto, Marek Dabrowski, Matt Dann, He Fan, Rajeev Gowda, Oh-Seok Hyun, Christian Koch, Jitinder Kohli, R. Andreas Kraemer, Elena Lazarou, William Lyakurwa, Ashwin Mahesh, Florencia Mezzadra, Partha Mukhopadhyay, Mcebisi Ndletyana, Sridhar Pabbisetty, Miguel Pulido, Marco Aurelio Ruediger, María Belén Sánchez, Dmitri Trenin, Samuel Wangwe, Vanesa Weyrauch, Maria Monica Wihardja, Rebecca Winthrop, Wang Xiaoyi.

Slacker Genius Dr. David Loren can hack into the military industrial complex computer network to reclassify 3-Quinuclidinyl Benzilate from a class 2 pathogen to a class 5 pathogen. He can disassemble the micro-power device of Dr. Sejic to appropriate its extensive battery life for his surface thought reader. But can he save himself from the confines of his own mind?