A Creative Tension is the most extensive analysis of the congressional and presidential roles in foreign policy by a former member of Congress. Hamilton explores the topic in an original, stimulating, and accessible manner by deftly mixing incisive commentary with illuminating personal reflections.

Lee H. Hamilton was U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1965 to 1999, a member of the House's Committee on International Relations for his entire tenure, ranking Democrat on that committee for ten years, and chairman of the committee for two. He is now director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. Jordan Tama, until recently special assistant to the director at the Woodrow Wilson Center, is a graduate student at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University