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The goal of this book is to prepare readers to apply the optimal control theory to nonlinear processes beyond the standard applications. The examples investigated in depth are drawn from drug policy, corruption, and counter-terror, so this book will be of particular interest to economists, epidemiologists, and other scholars interested in the economics of crime, health, and violence. However, the book is designed to simultaneously appeal to an even larger audience of students in mathematics, economics, biosciences, and operations research for whom it fills a gap in the literature between “cookbooks,” that give recipes but not deeper understanding, and more formal mathematical textbooks that do not explain how to apply the theory to practical problems. This innovative balance is inspired by what we and our students have discovered to be essential to productively harnessing optimal control to address novel …