Robert E. Looney is a Distinguished Professor in the National Security Affairs Department at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California, USA. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of California, Davis. He specializes in issues relating to economic development in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. He has published 22 books, including: Economic Policymaking in Mexico: Factors Underlying the 1982 Crisis (Duke University Press), and Iraq’s Informal Economy: Reflections of War, Sanctions and Policy Failure (The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research). He has also edited four Routledge International Handbooks: Handbook of US-Middle East Relations (2009), Handbook of Oil Politics (2012), Handbook of Emerging Economies (2014), and Handbook of Transitions to Energy and Climate Security (2016). He is also the editor of the Routledge Europa Emerging Economies series.