You receive this issue of the European Review a little later than you might have expected for ERW 17.3, but that is because what you are holding in your hands right now is not just 17.3 but also 17.4, which accordingly reaches you a bit earlier than foreseen! We decided to combine 17.3 and 17.4 into one double issue 17.3/4, because after our very substantial issues 17.1, with 220 pages and two exciting Foci on “Open Access” and “Literature for Europe” as well as articles on German historiography, the free press and job insecurity in Italy, and 17.2, with well over 200 pages entirely devoted to “Complexity,” we had a mere 120 pages left to fill our entire year’s worth. To split these up over two very meagre issues of about 50 to 60 pages each would have been a pity, we thought. Therefore, in agreement with Cambridge University Press, we opted for one more substantial issue 17.3/4, containing yet again almost 200 pages, rather than two very thin separate issues. We hope you will like this double issue’s mix of articles making up a Focus on “Global Science,” a number of which result from the very successful Liverpool Academia Europaea meeting in September 2008, another Focus on “Slavery,” likewise from the Liverpool meeting, as well as offering a historical perspective on globalization, a fascinating view on cutting-edge geo-physical research conducted in Europe, a revealing article about negotiation processes with the European Commission, and a series of reviews of noteworthy recent books. With ERW 18, needless to say, we return to our regular publishing schedule of four issues per year, each approximately 165 pages long.