Historical and Theoretical Examinations of International Higher Education as Preventive Diplomacy and Action for Peace

• In Event: Education Abroad for First Generation Students, Diplomacy and DEI

Proposal

The maintenance and achievement of peace has historically been central as normative principles for practitioners and policy makers involved in international exchange, international cooperation, global governance and the internationalization of higher education (hereafter referred to as "international higher education"). At the same time, however, it has been constantly challenged by changing international circumstances, especially the outbreak of conflicts and wars, which have led to the question whether "international higher education for peace" is nothing more than idealism. In addition, there have been few theoretical examinations of how international education functions as preventive diplomacy and action for peace, or empirical and historical studies that clearly demonstrate whether it is really effective.
The central question of this presentation is "How does international higher education contribute to peace?" The main objective of this study is to clarify the process by which international higher education contribute to the maintenance and achievement of peace by applying and examining various historical and theoretical perspectives of international relations in addition to comparative and international education research. The purpose of this research is to examine historically and theoretically how international education contributes to the maintenance and achievement of peace.

Theoretical Explanations
How can the theories developed in the academic fields of international relations and comparative and international education explain the idea that international higher education can maintain and achieve peace? The theoretical position of liberalism in international relations advocates the theory of interdependence, according to which, the states with deepened interdependence have more diverse international relations and multiple formal and informal channels of diplomatic negotiation, thus reducing the effectiveness of military solutions and stabilizing bilateral relations (Keohane and Nye 1977). The human and organizational networks formed through international higher education could also become informal channels for bilateral and multilateral problem solving. In the European theory of regional integration, Karl Deutsche (1957) also advocated the theory of a pluralistic security community, which posits that the deepening of functional intra-regional cooperation (including international higher education) would integrate people's values and thus contribute to peace.
One of the leading explanations from international relations theories for the motivations of providers of international education is the theory of soft power. Contrasting soft power with "hard power" such as military and economic power, Joseph Nye (2004) defined soft power as the power to make other countries want the outcomes that a country desires, rather than to force them to follow. As a typical example, he explained that the invitation of foreign students contributes to the increase of US soft power and the stability of its international status, and thus to its security. On the other hand, Jane Knight critically and logically rebutted the discourse that views higher education exchanges and cooperation in terms of soft power theory by using the concept of knowledge diplomacy (Knight 2019). Knight defines knowledge diplomacy as a mutually reinforcing process between international higher education and research activities and international relations.

Historical Contexts
“International higher education” has historically shaped and developed their activities and policies based on the primordial principle of "maintaining and achieving peace”. Pioneering and full-fledged efforts in the international community were made by the International Committee for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations and the International Bureau of Education, which were organized after World War I. These efforts were interrupted by World War II, but after the war, UNESCO was born with a charter that begins, "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed," and the international organization has worked to promote international education to build peace "on the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind" (UNESCO 1945). Also, the “Fulbright Program,” initiated by U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, further strengthened this principle by promoting international educational exchanges as a means of humanizing mankind and promoting peace in international relations. In the 1980s, the Erasmus Project and various other international education projects were launched in Europe to promote international educational exchanges within the region with the aim of cultivating European citizenship and promoting international understanding and reconciliation for peace within the region. In Asia, ASEAN led the development of multi-layered regional cooperative educational frameworks in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Asia-Pacific in the 2000s, and the achievement and maintenance of peace remained central to the guiding principle of this process in this region.
The international situation in the 2000s, from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States to the current Russian war with Ukraine and Israeli attacks on Palestine, has led the international community to reaffirm the importance of reconciliation efforts for peace. In particular, many of the conflicts that erupted during this period posed serious threats to peace, unlike previous international conflicts based on economic interests and political ideologies. Rather, they were rooted in ethnic, religious, and civilizational conflicts, as well as historical backgrounds and disagreements. The international situation, in which conflicts were more frequent in many parts of the world due to cultural, religious and historical factors different from those of the Cold War, prompted the international community to focus on achieving social cohesion through international higher education for peace and preventive diplomacy and activities to avoid wars and conflicts.

This presentation aims to build on the theoretical and historical examination of “International Higher Education for Peace" to formulate concrete policy recommendations for the formation of global governance in post-2030 and post-SDGs education, which is expected to be discussed internationally in the very near future.


References
Deutsch, K. et al. (1957) Political Community and the North Atlantic Area. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press
Keohane, R. O. & Nye, J. S. (1977). Power and Independent: World Politics in Transition. Addison Wesley School.
Nye, J. S. (2004). Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. Public Affairs.
Knight, J. (2019). Knowledge Diplomacy in Action. British Council.
UNESCO. (1945) Constitution. https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/constitution

Author

• Kazuo Kuroda, Waseda University