Steve Monroe is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore.  He is a scholar of the international and comparative political economy of the Global South, with a primary focus on the Middle East and North Africa.  His book, Mirages of Reform: The Politics of Elite Protectionism in the Arab World, explains why despite decades of international pressure, Arab regimes' adoption of trade liberalizing policies has been varied, selective, and often ineffective; neoliberal trade policies have not deepened international trade in many Arab markets.