Geopolitics and the Internationalisation of Higher Education and Research

'Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’, as Nelson Mandela famously said. But what happens to this force for good when higher education and science are weaponised in a polarised global world? This question is particularly important given the critical role of universities in addressing global justice in the Anthropocene.

This contribution presents the findings of a study that examined the mounting pressures on British and German universities to align their internationalisation efforts with the new geopolitical strategies of their governments. The paper starts by outlining an interdisciplinary framework that strengthens a sociological perspective within international relations (IR) while foregrounding transnational processes and social connections within the sociology of higher education (HE) (Hartmann 2011, Hartmann 2015, Hartmann 2019, Hartmann 2023). The framework heavily draws on Gramsci's theory of hegemony and Poulantzas' state theory to better account for the country-specific university-state nexus and modes of mediation between conflicting interests and values within government (Poulantzas 2000, Brenner 2004, Jessop 2004).

This analytical framework is deployed to compare the efforts and success of the two governments in aligning the internationalisation of their higher education and research with their foreign geopolitical policy, particularly regarding China. These two countries are important geo-political and geo-economic players, scientific powerhouses, and important destinations for international students and academics. What makes the comparison interesting is that they differ significantly regarding their university-state nexus, the degree of marketisation they display in higher education, the way the different departments of the government relate to each other and their colonial legacy. The study explored the impact of these differences using a mixed-method approach that included the analysis of policy papers, bilateral memorandums of understanding, publicly funded scholarships, statistics about international students and trade flows, and expert interviews.