The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
The research presents a model of Iran’s decision-making behaviour and the development of its nuclear program during its negotiations with p5+1 over the past decade. The model demonstrates how Iran’s nuclear development, measured in terms of the SWU (separative work units) of Iran’s enrichment program, has been an important component of a bargaining strategy to maximize power, measured in terms of diplomatic, information and technology, military, and economic resources (DIME) .