Throughout the 1990s existing international higher education networks, including the International Association of Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities, were joined by a new wave of smaller, more homogeneous groupings of universities, known as global consortia. In Consortia, Emeritus Professor David Teather and thirteen other international experts in the field of higher education evaluate these new alliances. Where of alliance do they fit in modern academia, and how effective are they? Do they really provide a competitive edge in the core university businesses of teaching, research and service?