I wind up my term as Editor of Social Development Issues. The International Consortium of Social Development (ICSD)—an organization that we commemorate on its 50^th anniversary—is owed credit and admiration for establishing SDI as one of the leading journals in Social Development.

The world order is on the cusp of multipolar disarray fraught with staggering platitudes. Social Development—academically and pragmatically—must address these issues, old and new, “beyond mountains”. Social Developmentality has a chance to ward off the worrisome outcome of globalized capitalism. “Shrink the Economy, and Save the World,” says Japanese scholar Kohel Saito.¹

New Inequality—in the wake of paradoxical advancements—is a hydra-headed monster incubated by innate and acquired territorial pugnacity. The rise of a new Unicorn, and simultaneously unthinkable poverty, is an undeniable reality. Social development has a historical opportunity to save us from ourselves. The apocalyptical conflicts—from Ukraine to Gaza-Israel, Sudan to Yemen, Haiti to Taiwan, and Washington to Moscow and Beijing—shatter my trust in human ingenuity. Homines sapientes might not overcome their death wish if destructive proclivities cannot transcend the fallout of human avarice and anxieties. Return of the Leviathan,² I submit, represents the lost romance of the fabled Enlightenment.

It is my privilege to introduce and welcome Dr. Philip Hong, Professor & Dean, Georgia, Social Work, whose intellect and dynamism will lead SDI into the future. I am honored to be succeeded by a scholar whose scholarship is an inspiration to us all.