John T. Rourke, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the the University of Connecticut. He is a the author of International Politics on the World Stage, Ninth Edition (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2003); the author of Presidential Wars and American Democracy: Rally ‘Round the Chief (Paragon House, 1993); a coauthor of Direct Democracy and International Politics: Deciding International Issues Through Referendums (Lynn Rienner, 1992); the editor of Taking Sides: Clashing View on Controversial Issues in American Foreign Policy, Second Edition (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2002) and Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Politics, Tenth Edition (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2002), the author of Making Foreign Policy: United States, Soviet Union, China (Brooks Cole, 1990) Congress and the Presidency in U.S. Foreign Policy-Making (Westview, 1985), and numerous articles and papers. He enjoys teaching introductory classes and he does so each semester at the University’s Storrs and Hartford campuses. His regard for the students has molded his approach of conveying scholarship in a language and within a fram of reference that undergraduates can appreciate. Rourke believes, as the theme of this book reflects, that politics affect us all and we can affect politics. Rourke practices what he propounds; he is involved in the University’s internship program, advises one of its political clubs, has served as a staff member of Connecticut’s legislature, and has been involved in political campaigns on the local, state, and national levels.