Google has hired an experienced lawyer and international policy activist as its new vice president of global communications and public affairs.

Elliot Schrage, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, will report directly to Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

He will fill the role left by Cindy McCaffrey, a former journalist and PR professional.

Schrage brings legal know-how and experience of global corporate issues. He was formerly senior vice president of global affairs at clothing chain Gap, where he led the company's efforts to get better working conditions for its third-world suppliers' employees.

Schrage joins at a time when Google is having to defend its intended strategy of digitising the contents of a number of leading university libraries to make the information searchable through Google.