The Scottish government has pursued international relations through engagement with states throughout the world and its modest steps toward an international development policy.
Scotland has a long history of international connections shaped by conflict, migration, trade, and empire as well as by the continued existence of Scottish organizations and networks after 1707 and before and after devolution.
Since devolution was established in 1999, the Scottish Government has engaged in extensive paradiplomacy, a term referring to the international actions of sub-state governments. There has been a series of strategies to engage with European states, the USA, and China, through a strong, strategic role in linking economic development to the global economy. Scotland has also taken modest steps to develop its own international development policy.