Francis A. Beer is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Colorado, Boulder. He is the author of Meanings of War and Peace; Peace Against War: The Ecology of International Violence; and Integration and Disintegration in NATO: Processes of Alliance Cohesion and Prospects for Atlantic Community. His other publications include edited and co-edited  volumes on metaphorical world politics, post-realism, and international alliances. His work has appeared in Arabic and French.

Robert Hariman is Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. He is the author of Political Style: The Artistry of Power and of two volumes with John Louis Lucaites: No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy, and The Public Image: Photography and Civic Spectatorship. His other publications include edited volumes on popular trials, prudence, post-realism, and culture and catastrophe. His work has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, and French.

Beer and Hariman have been partners in a collaboration that began at the Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry at the University of Iowa in 1990. Their work has included Post-Realism: The Rhetorical Turn in International Relations and numerous related papers and articles.