People Count! rests on a single but important premise: As the world shrinks and becomes ever more complex, so have people—as “networked individuals”—become ever more central to the course of events. The age of the nation-state has yielded to the age of the individual, and no one is better qualified than distinguished scholar James N. Rosenau to track this shift in prose that sings. Here he investigates the myriad ways in which “people count” in global politics. Tracing developments in globalization, demography, and the skills revolution, Rosenau profiles 17 different groups and shows how and why they matter on the world scene. Along the way, he tells the fascinating back stories behind the roles that people play: Who the terrorists are, why soldiers fight, how citizens and immigrants compare, what connects the networkers, where travelers feel at home, and when the here and now takes a back seat to another world. This book seeks to depict a new era by analyzing the basic roles people occupy in their family, community, and society, including the wider world. The groups that Rosenau examines include: