People

The power of networks is changing the way we think about strategy.  SSI is creating a powerful network of its own. It comprises leading strategists from the UK and further afield who will both advise, such as on research proposal end-user impact, and teach.  SSI’s network includes academics with proven policy impact, many of whom have worked in the field; and as a key element of the Institute’s own strategic design, it draws upon an eclectic – and growing - group of committed ‘activists’.  The network has been carefully selected from the fields of politics, diplomacy, international and non-governmental organisations, the media, the intelligence community, commerce, law and the military.

Strategy has many definitions, but most agree that it is about purposeful action and taking risk.  Each one of the SSI network has been invited to join SSI not simply because they have held senior positions (although that alone would be a good reason) but because they all have unique personal experience of policy and strategy in conditions of intense pressure and this is where their particular insight will be of immense value both to the Exeter academic community and our students.  For example, Bob Ainsworth was Secretary of State for Defence at a particularly challenging time.  He held office in the dying days of a government when budgets were strained – along with some working relationships – close to breaking point.  The pressures of the job would have challenged many peace-time holders of the appointment.  Yet he also had to lead and manage a department of state that was a strategic headquarters charged with playing a major role in Afghanistan at a crucial time for that campaign.  Sir John Scarlett is another member of the SSI extended faculty who has carried strategic weight on his shoulders.  As a leading member of an intelligence community under intense scrutiny in the wake of the Butler Report into the Iraq War, he had to balance the need for imaginative, proactive covert operations to manage a growing terrorist threat with legal, ethical and political expectations.  His judgement was tested in ways that few have experienced.

Exeter is fortunate to be able to count such people amongst its honorary faculty.  Through SSI they are offering students and staff alike the opportunity to learn from their experience. 

Honorary Professors

Honorary Fellows