Colin McInnes is responsible for the UK National Commission for UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Portfolio; and is the lead author of its papers setting out recommendations for reform of the World Social Sciences Report and on the UNESCO Chairs programme.
Colin has vast experience as defence advisor, having worked as a lecturer in the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Defence Studies, King’s College London; and Special Adviser to the House of Commons Defence Committee. His research interests cover many aspects of global health and
International Relations, but especially the security dimensions of
HIV and AIDS, global health governance and global health
diplomacy.
He was elected Chair of the UKNC in 2019 and works closely with the British government, UNESCO designations and UNESCO HQ in Paris. In 2017 he received the Special Achievement Award at the inaugural Wales Social Research awards, for his ‘outstanding personal achievement in research’.
Professor McInnes has published widely, initially on strategy and security and more recently global health politics. His book, Spectator Sport War: The West and Contemporary Conflict, was a Choice ‘Outstanding academic title’. The wider impact of his work was rated 4* in the 2014 REF, for which he was also a panel member and he is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and of the Royal Society for the Arts.
Alongside his role at UNESCO, he also holds a chair in Aberystwyth University’s Department of International Politics and is the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research. He is currently advising both Public Health Wales and the InterAction Council (an NGO consisting of over 40 former Presidents and Prime Ministers still active in influencing world events) on global health issues.