The Scottish Council on Global Affairs is the all-Scotland international relations institute. It marshals Scotland’s wide expertise on international affairs, supports the formulation of public policy, and provides a convening space for informed debate.
The Council provides a forum to bring together the public, private and not-for-profit sectors with civil society and academic expertise to encourage dialogue, debate and the dissemination of research on issues of global importance.
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The Scottish Council on Global Affairs is the all-Scotland international relations institute. It marshals Scotland’s wide expertise on international affairs, supports the formulation of public policy, and provides a convening space for informed debate.
The Council provides a forum to bring together the public, private and not-for-profit sectors with civil society and academic expertise to encourage dialogue, debate and the dissemination of research on issues of global importance.
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The audio track from a very timely lecture organised by the Stevenson Trust for Citizenship and co-hosted by the Scottish Council on Global Affairs.
It took place at the University of Glasgow in April 2025.
The speakers were Professors Rita Abrahamsen & Michael C. Williams, both at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, and both Leverhulme Visiting Professors in the United Kingdom.
Professors Abrahamsen and Williams argue that while the radical Right is far from a unified political movement, its calls for sovereignty, civilizational orders, and multipolarity enable complex, strategic convergences with illiberal states such as China and Russia, as well as states and people in the Global South. The potential consequences for the future of the liberal world order remain wide-ranging.
See also on YouTube.
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A live recording of First Minister John Swinney MSP and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with Principal Professor Dame Sally Mapstone, at an event held in the Booth Lecture Theatre to mark the transition of SCGA from the University of Glasgow to St Andrews for the next two years.
“The fact that three institutions – the universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh – came together to found the Council is very good practice and not something I have seen in any other jurisdictions ” (Leo Varadkar)
John Swinney from 9m50s
Leo Varadkar from 27m30s
Questions and vote of thanks edited out for length, recording c/o University of St Andrews.
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In this episode we look at the work undertaken by Prof. Andrew Neal and his colleagues on National Security globally. Breaking new ground a corpus and dataset of national security documents has been produced, with SCGA support, offering unprecedented insights into the landscape of international security.
This collection encompasses 575 documents from 113 countries, spanning the years 1987 to 2024. It represents the first-ever comprehensive corpus of public national security and defence documents on a global scale, providing a unique window into how countries across the world conceptualise and prioritise their security challenges.
The complete dataset has a DOI and is available through Edinburgh DataShare, the University of Edinburgh’s digital repository. It is released under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 licence, meaning it can be freely shared and adapted with attribution.
See scga.scot for more details, the work of Prof. Ole Wæver on Threat is also referenced.
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We are joined by Dr Ilia Xypolia, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen; and Dr Zana Gul, Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling.
They discuss their SCGA-funded project on the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the first negotiated peace settlement post-World War One, its aftermath and its lessons for the greater Middle East.
Considered by some as the introduction of partition as a policy, and as the “birth certificate” of modern Turkey, the Treaty created a legacy that persists today.
While the Treaty also marked the beginning of the end of British foreign policy predominance, this episode discusses the UK’s persistent and discrete role in the greater Middle East today, the place of Turkey at the hinge of regional affairs, and touches upon aspects of gender. It also looks at how the Treaty prefigures the reconfiguration of power and influence that continues in global affairs today - with lessons and opportunities for Scotland’s role too.
Also mentioned: United States Institute of Peace and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
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Recorded live at the Glasgow Human Rights Network’s Early Career Researcher event, Dr David Scott talks with Dr Elaine Webster (Strathclyde University), Prof Bruce Adamson (University of Glasgow), and Mhairi Snowden (Human Rights Consortium Scotland) on how to bring academia and practice together to work on human rights in Scotland.
On 13 June 2024, the Glasgow Human Rights Network hosted its first Early Career Work-in-Progress Workshop at Strathclyde University, bringing together PhD students from the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian University, and the University of the West of Scotland to present their work and make new connections with other early career academics.
On this episode of the SCGA podcast, the Network presents the workshop’s keynote panel on Human Rights Work in Practice, with Dr David Scott (Postdoctoral Research Associate in International Law and Governance at the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security, University of Glasgow, and the Scottish Council on Global Affairs) joined by Dr Elaine Webster (Reader in Law at Strathclyde University), Prof Bruce Adamson (former Professor of Legal Practice at University of Glasgow and former Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland), and Mhairi Snowden (Director at the Human Rights Consortium Scotland) to discuss their careers in human rights, the successful collaborations they have seen between academics and civil society, and the challenges and obstacles that can be encountered when trying to work together.
Supported by a SCGA Connections Award, this Early Career Workshop was the third and final relaunch event for the Glasgow Human Rights Network, which aims to foster new connections between academics, civil society organisations, and community and activist groups working on human rights issues across Scotland. You can learn more about the Glasgow Human Rights Network at https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/glasgowhumanrightsnetwork/ and on Twitter/X at @GlasgowHumRts. You can also join the Network’s mailing list by contacting GHRN@glasgow.ac.uk.
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On 16 January 2024, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 entered into law, ending a multi-year push by civil society to see international children’s rights written into Scots law.
On this episode of the SCGA podcast, Dr David Scott (Postdoctoral Research Associate in International Law and Governance at the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security, University of Glasgow, and the Scottish Council on Global Affairs) is joined by Professor Bruce Adamson (Professor in Practice at the School of Law, University of Glasgow and former Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland) and Josh Kennedy (former Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament) to discuss the long road leading up to the Act’s passage, the obstacles the Act faced – including a successful challenge to a previous draft of the Act before the UK Supreme Court - and the hopes they have for the future of children’s rights in Scotland.
For more on Scotland’s human rights plans, you can find a previous episode of the SCGA podcast on the Scottish Human Rights Bill at https://scga.scot/2023/10/24/human-rights-scots-law/.
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In this podcast, John Edward speaks to Prof. Tom Scotto and Dr Claire Duncanson of the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively, on their work on public attitudes in Scotland.
In the first detailed study of its kind, they have looked at attitudes across nationalist and unionist persuasions to key international issues of today – wellbeing, global justice, colonial legacies, military force and development spending. In particular they have looked at attitudes to the feminist approach to foreign policy supported by the Scottish Government, among others. A full report “Good Global Citizens”, and open-source data set and code book are available at scga.scot.
Further reading:
Scotland the Brave? An authentic, ambitious and accountable Feminist Foreign Policy
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Four years on since the pandemic broke across the world SCGA looks at the prospects for a new Pandemic Treaty. John Edward speaks to Dr Stephanie Switzer of the University of Strathclyde and Dr Mark Eccleston-Turner of King’s College London.
Equity has been sorely lacking in pandemic preparedness and response, and COVID-19 is the latest example. The World Health Assembly of the WHO is due to finalise a Pandemic Treaty negotiated by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body in May/June 2024. We look at how far apart countries of the Global North and South still are, and what this intergovernmental response tells us about preparedness and the search for equity ahead of whatever pandemic may come next.
An SCGA Insight paper on this project is also available, with the contribution of Abbie Rose-Hampton and Michelle Rourke.
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In the last edition of 2023 Dr. Tyler White, Associate Professor of Practice and the Director of the National Security Program at the University of Nebraska talks to John Edward about deterrence and assurance. Since warfare entered the atomic and nuclear age, deterrence and assurance have highlighted the perils and sought success in keeping the world safe.
Tyler is one of the members of the US Strategic Command's Academic Alliance. The most recent DAAA conference, organised in Edinburgh by the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory was in partnership with the SCoGA.
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in Paris 75 years ago.
Professor Helen Duffy, Professor of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at the Grotius Centre of Leiden University and Director of Human Rights in Practice, joins Professor Christian Tams.
They discuss the Declaration's origins and progress, its universality and efficacy, and its application as the bedrock for binding human rights - not solely in situations of armed conflict.
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John Edward speaks to Professor Christian Tams, University of Glasgow International Law Chair and Director of the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security (GCILS).
Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1948, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide codified for the first time the crime of genocide. The Convention marked the international community’s commitment to ‘never again’ after the atrocities committed during the Second World War.
On its anniversary, this podcast looks at the Convention's origins, its ground-breaking definition of the crime of genocide, and progress - and resistance - since at national and international levels. The episode also looks at implications for Scotland as sub-state nation with discrete legal system.
See this latest edition of an Article-by-Article Commentary which Christian Tams co-authored, also on Amazon. A free copy of the general introduction is available.
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Dr Adam Bower is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in International Relations, and Director of Impact and Innovation in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews. Adam is also a Fellow of the Outer Space Institute. Here he talks with John Edward of SCGA on the difficult questions concerning the responsibilities - and potential vulnerabilities - of space companies and governments in times of war. Adam and John also look at Scotland's growing role in commercial space activities.
Modern societies are increasingly reliant on satellite-based services that enable critical Earth observation and data transmission services. While states continue to compete - and cooperate - in space exploration, space launch and the operation of Earth-orbiting satellites are now dominated by private space companies. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western space companies have provided vital Earth observation and telecommunications capabilities to support Ukrainian military operations. This has provided a dramatic illustration of the growing entanglement between commercial and national space systems and the policy dilemmas that emerge when private actors take sides in a war in which their home governments are not formally fighting.
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In this episode, the SCGA's John Edward speaks with Dr Benjamin Martill, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh.
We consider his research into the UK's relationship with the growing EU foreign and defence policy, how both sides responded to the protracted process of the UK's EU withdrawal, and the prospects for incremental development in the future We conclude with a look at how the landscape is changing once again with the invasion of Ukraine, its application for EU membership, and wider implications for the EU from NATO expansion.
For further reading see:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01925121211003789
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13501763.2023.2198578
https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiad243
In addition, Ben has written an article for UK in a Changing Europe on 'compensatory foreign policy'.
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Dr David Scott talks with Laura Pasternak from Who Cares? Scotland and Mhairi Snowden from the Human Rights Consortium Scotland about the Scottish Government’s plans to write international human rights into Scots law.
On 15 June 2023, the Scottish Government published the long-awaited consultation on its plans to incorporate various UN human rights treaties into Scots law, subject to the limits of the devolved competence of the Scottish Parliament. Alongside putting rights like the right to housing and the right to a healthy environment into Scots law, the Bill proposes wide-sweeping changes for public authorities in Scotland, including enhanced human rights reporting and outcome monitoring and increased access to the courts for legal accountability.
On this episode of the SCGA podcast, Dr David Scott (Postdoctoral Research Associate in International Law and Governance at the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security, University of Glasgow, and the Scottish Council on Global Affairs) is joined by Laura Pasternak (Policy & Public Affairs Manager at Who Cares? Scotland) and Mhairi Snowden (Director of the Human Rights Consortium Scotland) to discuss a new report on the Scottish Government’s human rights plans and the need to include Care Experienced people in its implementation.
The full report, ‘Incorporating International Human Rights: The protection of Care Experienced People’s Rights in the Scottish Human Rights Bill’.
The Human Rights Consortium Scotland’s response to the Consultation: https://hrcscotland.org/2023/10/09/consortium-publishes-scottish-human-rights-bill-consultation-responses/
Who Cares? Scotland’s response to the Consultation: https://www.whocaresscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WCS-Scottish-Human-Rights-Bill-consultation-response-Oct-2023-Final.pdf
Human Rights Consortium Scotland - @HRCScotland
Who Cares? Scotland - @whocaresscot
Dr David Scott - @David_M_Scott_
SCGA - @scga_scot
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Professor Rebecca Kay talks to John Edward on her research on migration and depopulation, prepared for the SCGA. This is at the same time that Migration Policy Scotland, where Professor Kay now works, published a key report on Attitudes to Migration: A view from Scotland; and the Scottish Census 2022 results were released.
The population of Scotland was estimated to be 5,436,600 on Census Day 2022, according to new data released by National Records of Scotland. This is the largest population ever recorded by Scotland’s Census and shows that without migration the population of Scotland would have decreased by around 49,800 since 2011.
Professor Kay, is an expert on migration issues in Scotland. She has over 25 years’ experience of social research and is particularly skilled in qualitative research including participatory and action research. She designed and led a large 5-year study of migration from Eastern Europe to Scotland, has been involved in research on issues relating to language learning and migrant integration in Scotland, and is chair of the Scottish Government’s Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population which provides advice to government on Scotland’s migration needs and challenges and presents policy options and analysis through a series of regular reports.
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SCGA Co-Director Phillips O'Brien speaks with Minna Ålander of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs on the implications of the Russo-Ukraine War for the Security in the “Wider North” of Europe.
They consider:
Professor Phillips O'Brien is Head of the School of International Relations and Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St Andrews. He is a Co-Director of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs.
Minna Ålander is research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Her research focuses on Northern European security and Nordic defence cooperation, as well as Finnish and German foreign and security policy.
See also the SCGA website.
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In our first podcast, SCGA Head of Operations John Edward talks with Professor Peter Jackson, SCGA Executive Director. The episode covers what the Council is, how it works, what its priorities are, and what lies ahead.
"There is a pressing need to marshal Scotland’s formidable expertise on international affairs to support the formulation of public policy and to lift the level of debate over international questions in the public sphere."
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