The Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU maintains an office in the Centennial Center allowing us to link research activities of Tower Center faculty, fellows, and associates in Dallas (the heartland) with scholars, institutes, and think tanks in Washington and around the world. The Tower Center supports research and teaching in three areas: (1) international and comparative political economy, including trade, migration, and finance; (2) foreign policy, national security, and defense; and (3) American political development with an emphasis on policy, institutions, and process. Seyom Brown, Tower Chair in National Security and Director of Studies in the Tower Center, runs the national security program. Brown is conducting research for his two current book projects—an updated edition of The Faces of Power (Columbia University Press) and a new book entitled The Higher Realism (Paradigm Publishers), which advocates a shift in foreign policy after the 2008 election. Dennis Ippolito, McElvaney Professor of Political Science at SMU, leads the Tower Center program on American politics. His recent publications include Why Budgets Matter (Penn State) and he is working on a book entitled Welfare Shift, examining the past growth and projected future of federal social welfare programs and the federal budget.