Benjamin R. Barber was a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Dēmos, president of the Interdependence Movement, and Walt Whitman Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University. Barber was the author of seventeen books, including the classic Strong Democracy, the international best-seller Jihad vs. McWorld and Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole. Barber appeared frequently in broadcast media and domestic and international news publications, and he consulted regularly with political and civic leaders in the US (President Bill Clinton, Governor Howard Dean) and around the world (Germany, UK, Libya, Italy, Finland). He wrote and spoke on a wide variety of questions connected to democracy and citizenship, including the arts, education, globalization, terrorism, and the new politics of the Middle East and North Africa.