He is the author and/or editor and co-editor of some 20 volumes including Political Development Theory; Why We Cannot Govern the Global Economy; Relocating Middle Powers: Australia and Canada in the World Order; Towards a Global Polity; the 2-volume Handbook of Globalisation and 4 volume International Relations of the Asia Pacific.
In June 2011, Higgott took up the position of Vice-Chancellor, the chief officer, of Murdoch University in Western Australia.
[4] He was appointed with a mandate to reform the institution, raise standards, improve the university research reputation and international standing.
The national business media suggested that the then newly appointed Chancellor, David Flanagan, a miner who was not experienced in university governance, was "more local and closer to the parochial sentiments of Perth" and ill-suited to the pursuit of international talent and high educational standards.
[10] An opinion article in The Australian depicted Professor Higgott as 'A Colleague who Cared' and portrayed the investigation as a consequence of "bossy neoliberal governments" where "scholarly freedom is jeopardised".