Academics and Principals from the University of Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews join Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson at the launch of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs

A dynamic new forum for global affairs in Scotland has been officially launched.

The Scottish Council on Global Affairs (SCGA) will provide a non-partisan hub for world-leading expertise on international issues. It will place this expertise at the disposal of public policy and promote independent, expert-informed debate and discussion of the most pressing international questions. 

The SCGA has been set up by a group of Scotland’s leading universities, and will look from the beginning to form new partnerships with civil society and the business community in Scotland and across the United Kingdom.

The SCGA’s founding partners are the University of Glasgow, the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh. The new Council aims to forge new partnerships in Scotland and beyond with the aim of creating a global affairs institute with international reach and reputation.

Professor Peter Jackson, Chair in Global Security at the University of Glasgow and the first Executive Director of the SCGA, said: “There has been a pressing need for some years for an institute of international affairs in Scotland.

“The SCGA will promote an independent perspective on global affairs and give voice to the formidable range of expertise on international issues that exists in this country.”

Prof Sir Anton Muscatelli speaking at the launch of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs

Speaking at the launch of SCGA at Edinburgh Castle, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow said: “Scotland is home to a wealth of experience and knowledge. We’re responsible for some of the greatest thinkers, inventors, poets and economists to grace the world stage and this is in no small part due to our network of world-leading Scottish universities.

 “The new Council on Global Affairs will harness this power of our university sector and marry it to the energy and resources that exist in civil society, industry and government. The Council will place this expertise at the service of public policy and importantly, it will act as an independent, non-partisan source of knowledge and forum for debate for Scotland.

“ By bringing together the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews, and providing a platform for our academics to collaborate together, we hope this Council will be a critical friend to policymakers across the political spectrum.”

Its creation as a fully independent institute of international affairs has been supported by all major political parties and was in the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Scottish National Party manifestos at the last election.

Strong relationships have already been established by the Council with the Scottish Government and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. 

The Scottish Government committed to back the Scottish Council on Global Affairs in its Programme for Government and has supported its establishment. 

Professor Peter Jackson (UofG); Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson and Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli at the launch of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs

External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson said: “As Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine continues, prompting Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the last world war, it has never been clearer that the challenges that nations face today are global in nature.

“The new Scottish Council on Global Affairs, Scotland’s first global affairs institute, will be marked by its academic freedom. It will develop critical thinking on international issues and Scotland’s place in the world, using the excellent expertise, researchers and universities that Scotland already has.

“Although the Scottish Government warmly welcomes and supports the establishment of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs - as committed to in our latest Programme for Government - this initiative is independent, supported as it is by parties across the political spectrum, making it truly non-partisan.

“I look forward to seeing its first contributions to the great questions of our age.”

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Minister Amanda Milling said: “The UK Government is proud to be working with the Scottish Council on Global Affairs.

“Bringing three great universities together to create a new foreign policy Think Tank will provide tremendous benefit to Scotland, and the whole of the United Kingdom.”

The new Council will be a think tank for academics but it also hopes to bring in other people with expertise to contribute from civil society, business, journalism and politics. The Council will also engage with the public to promote debate in Scotland and the wider United Kingdom around international affairs and the country’s place in the world.

The present war in Ukraine, the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis have all underlined the need for international co-operation and multi-disciplinary expertise to address the political, economic and public health challenges of the 21st century. The Council will contribute to this enterprise by providing an institutional setting for discussion and debate of international questions.

A core mission of the new Council is to support ambitious research projects aimed at informing public policy and promoting public discussion. In pursuit of these goals, it will forge partnerships in the UK, Europe and beyond to amplify the global reach of Scottish expertise.

First published: 27 April 2022

<< 9 May 2022