Russia-EU Internationalisation of Higher Education: Cooperation vs Competition?

Russia, due to its unique location simultaneously in Europe and Asia, has more than three centuries of higher education cooperation with the European states. The role of higher education cooperation has been defined by the changes in general political context, international relations. Approaches to interaction have varied from attempts to transplant European academic culture into national culture to the severe limitations of any contacts with Western higher education institutions.

The chapter explores the rationale and evolution of the role of higher education cooperation between Russia and Europe under the pressure of foreign policy and its changing priorities. In particular, the author considers Russia-EU internationalisation as part of the common trend of rising competition between different countries and regions of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).

To understand the challenges for Russia-EU higher education cooperation in terms of the common framework provided by EHEA, the author studies different institutional environments where the universities of Russia and the EU member states implement internationalisation activities. The chapter overviews the policy tools to support the internationalisation of higher education in Russia, highlights the opportunities for Russia-EU cooperation and investigates the challenges produced by national traditions, EHEA and national law enforcement, and university governance practices, which have constrained Russia-EU higher education cooperation.