Donald Trump makes headlines for restricting immigration, repealing Obamacare, and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. With less drama, his administration is working on another issue of far-reaching importance. As Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Cathleen Cimino-Isaacs write in our Summer 2017 issue, the U.S. president’s trade policies have profound implications for the global economy and America’s international standing. Their essay, “Trump versus Globalization,” leads our Special Report: Global Trade in Peril.

Dany Bahar takes a pragmatic look at the upsides and downsides of international trade in his essay, “The Case for Open Markets.” In an essay titled “Anti-Trade Alliance,” Pietra Rivoli reports on the unlikely coalition of skeptics across the political spectrum that is driving anti-globalization trends. In “Speed Bumps on the Silk Road,” Rebecca Liao examines China’s ambitious plans to further trade and influence from Asia to the Middle East with its One Belt One Road Initiative.

With the looming military defeat of the Islamic State jihadist group, we offer a set of three essays that examine the outlook for Iraq and Syria after years of upheaval in those countries. The Cairo Review Interview is with former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who currently heads the International Rescue Committee, a leading group confronting the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

This is my last issue as managing editor of the Cairo Review. I am proud to have been part of an effort here at the American University in Cairo to provide a platform in the Middle East for quality writing on global affairs. I pay tribute to the hundreds of authors from the region and around the world who have enabled the Cairo Review to make meaningful contributions to international discourse. I say a sincere thanks to the many readers of this quarterly print edition as well as our continuously updated online site—thank you for trusting the Cairo Review to balance the narrative with factual reporting and informed analysis. Finally, I am indebted to our small team of incredibly talented and dedicated editors and reporter-researchers. Their daily labors, smart perspectives, and good humor have made the Cairo Review what it is.

Scott MacLeod
Managing Editor