The Sum of All Fears

First edition cover art
Author	Tom Clancy
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Ryanverse
Genre(s)	Novel, Thriller
Publisher	Putnam
Publication date	1991 (1st edition)
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	798 p. (hardback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-399-13615-0 (hardback edition)
Preceded by	Clear and Present Danger
Followed by	Debt of Honor

The Sum of All Fears is a best-selling thriller novel by Tom Clancy, and part of the Jack Ryan series. It was the fourth book of the series to be turned into a film. Image File history File links Tom_Clancy_-_The_Sum_of_All_Fears_cover. ... Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. ... In political geography and international politics a country is a geographical entity, a territory, most commonly associated with the notions of state or nation. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Ryaniverse is fandom jargon for the fictional universe centered on Tom Clancys characters Jack Ryan, John Clark and the other characters associated with him in Clancys series of popular novels. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... Putnam is a surname. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... ISBN-13 represented as EAN-13 bar code (in this case ISBN 978-3-16-148410-0) The International Standard Book Number, ISBN, is a unique[1] commercial book identifier barcode. ... Clear and present danger is a term used by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. ... Debt of Honor (1994) is a novel by Tom Clancy. ... The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, from a screenplay by Paul Attanasio and Tom Clancy, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. ... The Sum of All Fears is a video game developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubisoft for the PC (2002) and Nintendo GameCube (2003). ... The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television. ... Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. ... Jack Ryan, in England Sir John Patrick (full name Dr. John Patrick Ryan, Lt. ... The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, from a screenplay by Paul Attanasio and Tom Clancy, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. ...

An interesting note is that this book was released just days before the Moscow uprising in 1991, which finally signaled the dissolving of the Soviet Union. Russian politics in the aftermath of the destruction of the Berlin Wall is a main element of the book. During the Soviet Coup of 1991, also known as the August Putsch, Vodka Putsch or August Coup, a group of hardliners within the Soviet Communist party briefly deposed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and attempted to take control of the country. ... The rise of Gorbachev Although reform stalled between 1964–1982, the generational shift gave new momentum for reform. ... East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, November 20, 1961. ...

Plot summary

The plot begins in 1973, during the Yom Kippur War; at its height the Israelis opt for a tactical nuclear strike, but this is changed at the last minute. Unfortunately, one Mark 12 nuclear weapon is not yet removed from an Israeli attack aircraft. That aircraft is shot down and crashes into the mountains, and the nuclear weapon is lost (a broken arrow). Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Israel Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq Aided By Saudi Arabia Pakistan Cuba Uganda Libya, Commanders Moshe Dayan, David Elazar, Ariel Sharon, Shmuel Gonen, Benjamin Peled, Israel Tal, Rehavam Zeevi, Aharon Yariv, Yitzhak Hofi, Rafael Eitan, Abraham Adan, Yanush Ben Gal Saad El Shazly, Ahmad Ismail Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Mohammed Aly... Mark-12 nuclear bomb The Mark-12 nuclear bomb was a US designed and manufactured lightweight nuclear bomb which was built starting in 1954 and saw service from then until 1962. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... The United States military uses a number of terms to define the magnitude and extent of nuclear incidents. ...

The plot then moves to 1991. After the Palestinians start using non-violent protesting and the killing of a protester by an Israeli soldier, the U.S finds that they can no longer support Israel. But the U.S. also cannot leave Israel without this support since it would risk destabilizing the region. A clever plan to accelerate the peace process is put into action, and to everyone's surprise it seems to work. Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... The Palestinian flag, adopted in 1948, is a widely recognized modern symbol of the Palestinian people. ... Nonviolence (or non-violence) can be both a political strategy or moral philosophy that rejects the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political change. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from...

A small group of Muslim extremist terrorists are not pleased though. With a lasting peace looming around the corner and the state of Israel still in existence, they are looking at a failure in their campaign. Their anger is directed towards the U.S which has supported Israel throughout the years and now is instrumental in creating a lasting peace that makes it impossible to eradicate the Jewish state. Terrorist redirects here. ...

When the terrorists come across the lost Israeli bomb, they manage to recover it and construct their own version using the plutonium as fissile material. They are also able to enhance the weapon and turn it into a thermonuclear device. The terrorists decide to use the weapon at the Super Bowl in Denver, Colorado. The goal of the terrorists is to start a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. General Name, Symbol, Number plutonium, Pu, 94 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight (244) g·mol−1 Electron configuration [Rn] 5f6 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 24, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Density (near r. ... The winning Super Bowl team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy. ... Nickname: Location of Denver in Colorado Location of Colorado in the United States Coordinates: Country United States State Colorado City-County Denver (coextensive) Founded [1] November 22, 1858 Incorporated November 7, 1861 Government  - Type Strong Mayor/Weak Council  - Mayor John Hickenlooper (D) Area [1]  - City & County  154. ... Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ...

The bomb explodes and destroys the stadium. The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State are both killed. Through a series of coincidences, misunderstandings and further terrorist activities, (including an attack on American forces in Berlin) the plan is almost a success and for a brief moment the U.S. assumes DEFCON-1. The crisis is averted when Jack Ryan, after receiving evidence that the bomb originates from the U.S., gains access to the Hot Line and manages to defuse the situation by communicating directly with the Soviet president. The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and The role of the Secretary of Defense is to be the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense... Seal of the United States Department of State. ... The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is a measure of the activation and readiness level of the United States armed forces. ... Forensic identification is the application of forensic science and technology to identify specific objects from the traces they leave, often at a crime scene. ... In telecommunication, a hotline (also called an automatic signaling service or off-hook service) is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically originated to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. ...

A curious twist is that the terrorists devise a backup plan in the event of failure. When this indeed happens and they are captured, they put it to work by implicating the Iranian Ayatollah as responsible for the attack. The American President, Bob Fowler, is enraged and orders the city of Qom destroyed through a nuclear attack. After Ryan averts the attack by enforcing the two-man rule, the terrorists accidentally reveal the ruse and that they devised it in order to discredit and shame the U.S. in the eyes of the world. The upshot of this would be that the delicate peace process is destroyed and that the campaign against Israel thereby could continue. The plan can be seen as employing the commonly used terrorist tactic called Agent provocateur, the inciting agent. Ayatollah redirects here. ... J. Robert(Bob) Fowler was President of the United States in the Tom Clancy novel The Sum of All Fears After his predecessor threw the election, Fowler won the presidency with campaign manager Arnie Van Damm. ... Qom (Persian: قم, also known as Qum or Kom) is a city in Iran and the Qom (River) flows through the town. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... An agent provocateur (plural: agents provocateurs) is a person assigned to provoke unrest, violence, debate, or argument by or within a group while acting as a member of the group but covertly representing the interests of another. ...

The book ends with the terrorists being executed by beheading in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Ryan being presented an ancient sword held by the Saudi royal family. The sword is meant to honor all who died, but it also serves to remind Ryan of all who didn't die because of his actions. Decapitation (from Latin, caput, capitis, meaning head), or beheading, is the removal of a living organisms head. ... Riyadh from space, April 1994 Minestry of interior Faisaliah Centre King Fahad Int. ...

Trivia

The book features a minor character named Bill Clinton, long before the Arkansas governor's bid for Presidency. William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ...

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

• The Sum of All Fears (film)

• The Sum of All Fears (video game)