Although countries have interacted with each other throughout history, the field that we know today as "foreign relations" was not created until the beginning of the 20th century. The prevailing opinion of the past that a country's leaders were the only ones who needed to think about such things gave way to a new school of thought: Foreign relations affect all citizens, and therefore being a global citizen requires understanding how countries' actions affect each other. Through detailed graphic organizers and informative fact boxes, readers gain an age-appropriate introduction to this important and complex issue.