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Academic Mobility and World Peace 1
Who Leads Whom: Transnational Academic Mobility and World Peace?
Paul Pu
Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto
Academic Mobility and World Peace 2
Abstract
Over the past 30 years, education has become more interconnected in the world. Transnational
academic mobility has significantly increased and has emerged a significant contributor to
globalization and internalization. While many types of research have been conducted in the
relationship between academic mobility and globalization internalization, I could find little
research that demonstrates a causal relationship between transnational academic mobility and
world peace. This paper discusses the link between transnational academic mobility and world
peace as derived from a causal reasoning perspective and further explores how higher education
and academic mobility may contribute to world peace. The author concludes that higher
education institutes should strengthen the education of human core values to international
scholars and students in the course of teaching and exchanging expertise with them. The author
further concludes that international scholars and students could play an essential role in world
peace by acting as informal world peace diplomats.
Keyword: Transnational academic mobility, Higher Education, World Peace, War,
International Student, Scholar, Informal World Peace Diplomat, Civilization, Culture,
Globalization, Internalization, Neoliberalism
Academic Mobility and World Peace 3
Context
Our students and staff went to the Meridian Arts Center for the “LEST WE FORGET
Remembrance Day Service” on November 11, 2019. This event provided a meaningful part of
peace education for our students. We were reminded of the 19 million fatalities and 23 million
wounded military personnel in World War I, and of the 85 million fatalities in World War II.
This caused me to wonder how many more would lose their lives in a future world war, and is
this avoidable? If so, who can make significant contributions that prevent the next global war?
For over fifty years, the cold war was maintained through the fear of nuclear retaliation and the
deadly competition between East and West. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the
collapse of the Soviet Union, it was commonly held that Marxist-orientated governments would
rapidly move from socialism to capitalism (Bertell, 2001,p.9). Mundy (1998) states that, after
1980, the world was moving toward a Neoliberal world order. Neoliberalism accelerates
globalization by restructuring major economic conditions, causing a fundamental change in both
domestic and international orders (Mundy, 1998, p.468). Neoliberal globalization is becoming
the dominant trend in the world. The TINA (There IS No Alternative)-Principle believes that
neoliberal globalization is inevitable. Thatcher thought that there was no alternative to neoliberal
reform (Peck & Tickell, 2007). The TINA-Principle directly opposes Marxism, which believes
that there is no alternative to the proletarian revolution. Neoliberalism promotes globalized free
trade, self-interest, and individualism. Neoliberalism and its global claim are turning everyone
and everything into commodities (Von Werlhof,2008).
The ongoing globalization of neoliberalism is abandoning social, cultural, traditional, and
ecological considerations by giving way to a mentality of plundering. All global resources, such
as natural resources, forests, water, and genetic pools, have been turned into objects of
Academic Mobility and World Peace 4
“utilization” by “monetarization” (Von Werlhof, 2008). Von Werlhof (2008) concludes that
globalization and neoliberal policies will plunder the Earth, make war, and destroy the Planet.
Von Werlhof (2008) states:
One thing remains generally overlooked: The abstract wealth created for accumulation
implies the destruction of nature as concrete wealth. The result is a “hole in the ground”
(Galtung), and next to it a garbage dump with used commodities, outdated machinery, and
money without value. However, once all concrete wealth (which today consists mainly of the last
natural resources) will be gone, abstract wealth will disappear as well. It will, in Marx’s words,
“evaporate”. The fact that abstract wealth is not real wealth will become obvious, and so will
the answer to the question which wealth modern economic activity has really created. In the end
it is nothing but monetary wealth (and even this mainly exists virtually or on accounts) that
constitutes a “monoculture” controlled by a tiny minority. Diversity is suffocated and millions of
people are left wondering how to survive. And really: how do you survive with neither resources
nor means of production nor money?
Von Werlhof (2008) concludes that the ongoing globalization of neoliberalism is
promoting “Western civilization” and “European values”. But the world needs different
civilizations. She believes that there are alternatives to plundering the earth, making war, and
destroying the planet, and that people need to realize this and explore alternatives.
For over thirty years, with the rapid globalization of neoliberalism, it is not only the civilian
community that has been kept blissfully asleep in a peaceful dream. Today’s scholars similarly
know little about the roots of relatively recent conflicts like the Kosovo crisis and the Gulf War
that occurred as recently as the 1990s, and they have gradually and subconsciously forgotten
World War I and World War II. Without enough knowledge of past peace and war, we do not
Academic Mobility and World Peace 5
have a historical context in which to understand the present; we do not have strategies to keep
peace and prevent the war for the future.
Under neoliberal globalization, everything becomes a commodity. Compared to the
interests of the economic benefits, climate, animals, plants, human, and general ecological rights
are not uppermost in people’s minds (Von Werlhof, 2008). The ongoing expansion of the
Western neoliberalism will lead to a faster global ecological collapse (Sarkar, 2001).
“At present, the greatest threat to our security is not an invasion by 'the enemy'; it is the
destruction of the natural resources which we all rely on life and health. Without efficient use
and responsible management of these resources, the fabric of civilization will disintegrate and
we will be reduced to fighting with each other over basics such as clean air and water. In order
to provide future generations with what I have called 'ecological' security, we need to work on
both a global and a local level” (Bertell, 2001,p.6).
In pursuing the greatest economic benefits, Donald Trump, President of earth’s most
powerful economy, has described climate change as a “hoax” and withdrew the US from the
Paris Climate Accord (Stubley, 2018). In dealing with the conflict between the US and China,
President Trump is more willing to win a trade war rather than stand firm on moral issues like
freedom, human rights, and democracy.
Over 40 years, Deng Xiaoping, who is often referred to as the Architect of Modern China,
led reforms and an opening-up policy through pragmatic “low-key” diplomacy that elevated
China from the wreckage of the Cultural Revolution to the world's second-biggest economy. In
recent years, Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” ” strategy has replaced Deng’s “low key”
diplomacy; Beijing has been more proactive and confident on the world stage, with increasingly
assertive military and security policies. An increasingly assertive China is not only seeking to
Academic Mobility and World Peace 6
compete commercially with the US, but is also aiming for military and geopolitical supremacy.
As a nationalistic leader, Xi Jinping wants to restore the country’s historic glory as the world’s
greatest power and also revive the orthodoxy of Marxism and Maoism.
President Trump has launched an economic war by imposing punitive tariffs on most
Chinese goods imported to the US. His national security advisor has warned western countries
against using Huawei’s 5G. At the same time, China enhances its hard power by expanding its
reach into the South China Sea through island-building, opposing Hong Kong’s protesters, and
increasing its soft power using the 'One Belt One Road' strategy .
China claims its world leadership role by Xi’s statement “Working Together to Forge a
New Partnership of Win-win Cooperation and Create a Community of Shared Future for
Mankind” (Xi, 2015). China promotes its Marxism and Maoism oriented China mode, especially
in developing countries as an alternative to neoliberal globalization. The China Model is
sometimes used interchangeably with the Beijing Consensus (Zhang, 2014) though there are
people who insist "it is inaccurate to describe the Chinese model as the 'Beijing Consensus'
versus the 'Washington Consensus'(Weiwei, 2006).
“There is also growing fear that the ongoing trade war might spill into other spheres,
including technology, geopolitics and the military. Feuding between the world’s leading free
democracy and the world’s last major communist-ruled state could signal the revival of a cold
war-style confrontation” (Huang,2018).
Henry Kissinger warns of ‘catastrophic’ conflicts unless China and the US settle their
differences. If no resolution is achieved, “it will be worse than the world wars that ruined
European civilization”( Kissinger,2019).
Academic Mobility and World Peace 7
This paper does not intend to discuss if neoliberal globalization is inevitable, nor if the
“Beijing Consensus” is an alternative’ to the 'Washington Consensus'? Over the past 30 years,
education has become more interconnected in the world and together with neoliberal
globalization, transnational academic mobility has significantly increased. This paper discusses
the link between transnational academic mobility and world peace derived from a causal
reasoning perspective and further explores how higher education and academic mobility can
contribute to world peace.
Mobility and Migration: Rationales and Definitions
Transnational academic mobility is a key contributor to globalization and
internationalization. Transnational academic mobility itself is not a new phenomenon and can
trace back to medieval Europe and even earlier. For clear discussion and analysis, we need to
note various related key terms and clarify the context and scope of transnational academic
mobility. Teichler(2015) states that internationalization means: a) an increase of cross-border
activities among more or less persistent national systems of higher education and science, b)
often discussed in relation to physical mobility, academic cooperation and academic knowledge
transfer, as well as in relation to international education, and globalization implies: a) borders
and national systems as such get blurred or might even disappear, b) often associated with
competition and market-steering, trans-national education, and finally with commercial
knowledge transfer (p.9). Globalization is the end result, and then internationalization is a task
that has to be completed in order for the end goal to be achieved. Globalization is the structure
that people want to set up; however, internationalization is part of that structure, hence can be
termed as a subset of Globalization.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 8
Kim(2009) defined ‘interculturality’ as "the existence of a relation based on mutual
understanding and interaction between the people who belong to various cultural groups”(p.395).
It focuses on the deep understanding and respect for all cultures, the mutual exchange of ideas
and cultural norms, and the development of deep relationships. It is different from multicultural,
which refers to a society that contains several cultural or ethnic groups, but each cultural group
does not necessarily have engaging interactions with each other. Turner(2005) defines ‘Cultural
clash’ as a conflict caused by "differences in cultural values and beliefs that place people at odds
with one another."
The term ‘Transnational’ is used to highlight what is occurring across territorial
boundaries and not an official interaction between nations (Kim, 2009, p.387). The term
‘mobility‘’ refers to non-permanent physical border-crossing for a purpose such as study and
work. The term ‘Migration’, in contrast to mobility, underscores the permanence of border
crossing (Teichler, 2015, p.8). The term ‘Virtual mobility’ refers to students and teachers in
higher education using another institution outside their own country to study or teach for a
limited time, without physically leaving their home (Virtual mobility, n.d.). In general,
transnational academic mobility refers to students and teachers in higher education moving to
another institution outside of their own country to study or teach for a limited time. In the recent
three decades, mobility has rapidly increased in numbers, activities, and types. To support our
discussions, in this paper, we form a more broad definition of transnational academic mobility,
as that of students, academics, and researchers physically or virtually moving to another country
to study, teach, research, or work for a permanent or non-permanent period.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 9
History and Dynamics of Academic Mobility
Transnational academic mobility is not a new phenomenon. It goes back to the 7th
century BCE in Taxila, the center of Buddhist learning, with a predominant focus on Mahayana
Buddhism. Hayhoe (2019) states, “Taxila had attracted students from all parts of India, Nalanda
had monks and other students coming from as far as Tibet, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Persia,
Turkey, and China." There are many push-pull factors that drive transnational academic
mobility. In different historical periods, there were different main driving factors. Chen(2016)
proposes a hybrid of three levels of push-pull dynamics: micro-individual decision-making,
meso-academic marketing, and macro-national marketing to paint a more accurate picture of
academic migration flow(p.113). Based on the contemporary transnational academic mobility
phenomenon, the paper suggests a hybrid of four levels of push-pull dynamics. They are micro-
individual level, Meso-academic level, exosystem-national Level, and macro-global Level.
Micro-individual level refers to individual motivation and decision; Meso-academic level points
to the need for universities to increasingly compete for the international student market,
university financial support, and university global ranking; Exosystem-national Level refers to
national strategic need for increasing soft power or hard power, as exemplified by the Chinese
global Confucius Institutes and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) immigration program; Macro-
global Level refers to international organizations such as the world bank and UNESCO.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 10
At the earlier stage of transnational academic mobility, the main driving factor is micro-
individual motivation. For instance, people who wanted to go to Taxila to study were mostly
driven by their religious and cultural interests.
Medieval Europe Period
Throughout most of the eleventh century, there existed intellectual dialogue between
Christians, Jews, and Muslims (Kim, 2009, p.388). In the early medieval period, many students
travelled to universities in southern Europe for vocational training and teachers were recruited
transnationally in medieval Europe (Rashdall, 1997; Kim,2009). Fa Xian (337–422 CE), Xuan
Zang (602–664 CE), and Yi Jing (635 to 713 CE), who spent 17 years, 17 years, and 24 years
separately in India, studied Buddhism religion and then brought Buddhism to China
(Hayhoe,2009). Hayhoe concludes that “we have seen the tremendous impact of Indian
monastic institutions in Asia, and the way in which religious texts, as well as secular knowledge
Academic Mobility and World Peace 11
were widely diffused through the travelling of monks and scholars from all regions (p.180).
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Chinese Confucian culture had a great influence on
neighboring countries. As Kim (2009) stated, “Korean scholars and students travelled to China
to study and prepare for the Confucian service examinations” (p.388).
In this period, the driving factors of academic mobility mainly were micro-individual and
meso-academic. Individual persons pursued their religious beliefs, cultural interests, and career
benefits through transnational mobility as demonstrated by Fa Xian, Xuan Zang, and Yi Jing
who were mentioned earlier. As a result, academics became influential and were able to attract
financial support from patrons and political organizations.
Empires and Colonial Transfers
In this period, Kim (2009) states that "Transnational academic mobility followed the
expansion of empires, and the transfer of knowledge was made through academic expatriates in
overseas localities." Universities in the British colonies were operated in heavily dependent
relationships with the British system in terms of admissions rules, curriculum, examinations, and
academic staff profiles. University academics in the overseas colonies were recruited from
Britain and the British white colonial settlements. English was the universities' official language
in the British colonies.
During this period, Puritan ministers and their successors crossed the Atlantic to found
Harvard College in colonial Massachusetts and travelled from London or Paris to establish new
universities in Africa and Asia (Scott, 2015, p.61). Imperialism and colonialism triggered large
flows of students and scholars. By mapping the careers of the 350 professors who served at the
Universities of Sydney, Toronto, and Manchester during this period, Pietsch (2010) concludes
Academic Mobility and World Peace 12
“that, between 1900 and 1930 especially, there existed a distinctly British academic world within
which scholars frequently moved along different migratory axes” (p.377).
In this period, exosystem-national colonial expansion is the main driving factor of
academic mobility. “This world nonetheless shared more in common with the vision of an
expansive British academic community” (Pietsch, 2010, p.377).
World War I and World War II
In this period, macro – world war is the main driving factor of academic mobility. It
means that the war caused the academic mobility and demonstrates a very specific form of
transnational academic mobility.
In the 1930s, “Political ideology in Germany became more important than the
advancement of knowledge” (Kim,2010,p.393). Jewish scientists, judges and other scholars,
including distinguished world-class professors: for instance, Albert Einstein, Max Born, Hannah
Arendt, Sigmund Freud, Karl Popper, Karl Mannheim, Theodor Adorno, and Isaiah Berlin,
emigrated to the USA. The Nazi influence in Europe directly contributed to the relocation of
advanced research centers from Germany to the USA and the UK (Kim, 2010). Scott (2015)
states that "Without this infusion of academic talent it is difficult to explain the dynamism of
post-war American science or the development of the research university and the growth of the
multiversity, two institutional types that now dominate the global higher education”(p.61).
The Era of COLD War
In this period, macro – the polarized politics of 'Democratic' nations and ‘Communist’
nations were the main driving factors of academic mobility. The tension between the United
States and the Soviet Union affected the world. Kim (2010) states that “the United States
Academic Mobility and World Peace 13
continued to be the main pole of attraction for skilled scientists and engineers from the rest of the
world” (p.394) in the COLD War period.
From 1951 to 1965, China sent a total of about 30,000 people to study in the Soviet
Union, which included 1,8000 skilled workers, 1,1000 students and 900 scientists (Li, 2005).
During China’s First Five-Year Plan (1953-1957), the Soviet Union provided 156 key
construction aid projects, and over 3000 Soviet experts to help China establish its industrial
system (Wu, 2019,p.9). Wu states that “the whole Chinese higher education (HE) system was
reformed along Soviet lines in 1952” (p.9).
The Sino-Soviet split (1956–1966) was the breaking of political relations between China
and the Soviet Union. The academic mobility of Sino-Soviet completely stopped. The Sino–
Soviet split transformed the bi-polar cold war into a tri-polar cold war.
After COLD war: Neoliberal and internationalization
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, demands for freedom soon spread to the Soviet
Union. In late 1991, with stunning speed, the Soviet Union Collapsed. In 1990, Gorbachev,
working toward ending the Cold War, won the Nobel Peace Prize. The struggle for world
dominance between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union ended. The
world was moving toward peace, and Neo-liberalism became the dominant world ideology as it
restructured world relations and economy. Neo-liberalism has reshaped the value and practice of
higher education. Based on the market-based neoliberal ideology, education shifted from a
public good to part of the market, no different from other goods and services and is likewise
provided and delivered through market mechanisms. (Peter & McDonouth, 2008; Ball, 1998;
Lindblad, Johannesson, & Simola, 2002; Martino & Rezai-Rashti,2011).
Academic Mobility and World Peace 14
In this period, global world peace and Neoliberal ideology are the main driving factors of
academic mobility. The scale and speed of cross-border academic mobility increased
dramatically through the liberalization of trade policies and international organizations such as
WTO, NAFTA, while China opened the door to the western world and integrated rapidly into the
world economy and the coupled academic mobility.
The United States is the top host of international students that numbered 1,078822 in
2017, followed by United Kingdom(501,046),China(442,773),Canada(370,975),
Australia(327,608), France(323,933) , Russia(296,178), Germany(251,542),Japan(171,122) and
Spain(94,962) ( CBIE ,2018). The total international students' number adds to 3,858,961 in the
top ten host countries in 2017.
International students made a significant financial impact on the United States in 2017,
contributing $42.4 billion to the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
As the number of international students in the United States surpassed one million, China was
Academic Mobility and World Peace 15
the top sending country in which international students reached 369,548 in 2018, followed by
India with 202,014. The total 341,751 U.S students who studied abroad for academic credit,
included 11,613 who studied in China, in 2017/18(Open Doors, 2018).
Canada places fourth in hosting international students which numbered 572,415 in 2018,
representing a 16% increase over 2017 in which international student numbers grew by 20%.
Among the 572,415, 30% were from India and 25% from China. CBIE(2019) stated that "India
surpassed China as the top sender of international students in 2018 (172,625), recording an
increase of 40% over 2017; China sits in second place (142,985), recording 2% growth; South
Korea grew 5% and remained a distant third (24,195)."
In addition to international students’ mobility, international scholar’s movement is also
very energetic under neoliberal ideology. A total 134,014 U.S international scholars conducted
research or studied in the United States and 74.5% of them specialized on science, technology,
engineering, and math. 34.3% of international scholars in the U.S were from China, according to
the Open Doors report 2019.
By analyzing the 64 countries that represent the largest number of the international
student exchanges at the three points in time-1985,1988, and 1995, Chen and Barnett(2000)’s
findings show that “most Western industrialized countries including the United States, United
Kingdom, Germany, France, and Canada, have remained at the center of the international student
exchange network”. Transnational academic mobility plays a critical role in China’s rise. It
greatly contributed to moving China from the periphery to a more semi-central position in the
world system in the last 40 years, while the United States and most Western developed countries
maintain a central position.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 16
Knowledge, scientific, and technological strengths are essential weapons in all areas of
international competition and national development. Science, and technology as carriers of
knowledge are significant contributors to the rapid expansion of transnational academic mobility
that is reshaping world system order.
Transnational academic Mobility and China’s rise
Neo-liberalism meeting Socialism with Chinese characteristics helped China’s rise to the
world's second-largest economy. Transnational academic mobility accelerates the
internationalization of higher education and higher education internationalization quickens
transnational academic mobility. Both transnational academic mobility and higher education
internationalization have played a critical role in China’s rise. After the COLD war ended, under
neoliberal ideology, western countries admitted China into the world free-trade economy and
WTO. At this time the United States was the only superpower in the world, and no other country
could compete with it. As the world moves towards peace many scholars support the claim that
high levels of schooling are both a prerequisite for democracy and a significant cause of
democratization (Lipset, 1959; Barro, 1999; Przeworski et al.,2000; Glaeser et al.,2004). A
majority of western politicians believed that neoliberal globalization is inevitable and they
thought that China would develop into a democratic country after it integrated with the neoliberal
world free trade. Under Deng Xiaoping’s Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, China
developed Chinese-version of capitalism economically, and Chinese-version socialism
politically. Socialism with Chinese characteristics was the fastest way for China to obtain high-
tech, administrative skills and funds from western countries through the benefits of transnational
academic mobility and internationalization of higher education.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 17
The critical role of transnational academic mobility in world order Transformations was
clearly described by Saxenian (2005)’s following statement:
Transformations in the world economy have undermined the power of this core-periphery
model, however. The increasing mobility of highly skilled workers and information on the one
hand, and the fragmentation of production in information and communication technology sectors
on the other provide unprecedented opportunities for formerly peripheral economies. Regions
that missed the postwar economic boom, in particular, have provided fertile environments for a
decentralized growth based on entrepreneurship and experimentation. The key actors in this
process are neither policymakers nor multinational corporations in isolation, although both
certainly play a role, but rather communities of technically skilled immigrants with work
experience and connections to Silicon Valley and related technology
centers(Saxenian,2005,p.38).
Saxenian(2005) states that Indian and Chinese immigrants alone accounted for over one-
quarter of Silicon Valley's scientists and engineers in 2000, of whom 20,000 are Indian and
20,000 are Chinese (p.36) and that "These U.S. educated engineers are transforming
developmental opportunities for formerly peripheral regions as they build professional and
business connections to their home countries"(p.35).
The one-way ‘brain drain’ or ‘brain gain’ process is transforming into a two-way ‘brain
circulation’ process. “The increasing sophistication of information and communication
technologies and the liberalization of global markets have accelerated this
process”(Saxenian,2005, p.39).
At the earlier stage of the China reform and opening to the Western world, one-way
"brain drain" was the dominant process of knowledge transfer. In the earlier 80s, most of the
Academic Mobility and World Peace 18
Chinese students who obtained an advanced degree in a developed country chose to stay there
after graduation. In the middle of the 80s, the Chinese government became increasingly aware of
the one-way "brain drain" process and started to play the leading role in international knowledge
transfer. The government took several strategies to turn "brain drain" to "brain circulation" and
further to "brain gain." The typical plans included ‘Project 211’, ‘Project 985’, and ‘Thousand
Talents Program.’ ‘Project 211’ is a project initiated in 1995 with the intent of raising the
research standards of high-level universities and cultivating strategies for socio-economic
development. The name for the project comes from an abbreviation of the slogan "In preparation
for the 21st century, successfully managing 100 universities"("Project 211",n.d). ‘Project 985’ is
a project initiated in May, 1998 to promote and build the world-class universities in China by
allocating large amounts of funding to certain universities in order to build new research centers,
improve facilities, hold international conferences, attract world-renowned faculty and visiting
scholars, and help Chinese faculty attend conferences abroad(“Project 985”,n.d). ‘The Thousand
Talent Plan(TTP)' was established in 2008 by China’s central government to reorganize and
recruit leading international experts in scientific research, innovation, and entrepreneurship
which includes Innovative 1000 Talents plan, Foreign 1000 Talents plan, and Young scholar
1000 Talents plan("Thousand Talents Program",n.d).
With three government-led projects: ‘Project 211’, ‘Project 985’, ‘TTP’ , plus substantial
university linkage programs with developed countries like the U.S, Canada, Germany, and Japan,
China gained numerous advanced technologies and management skills through “brain gain “ and
“brain circulation.”
After experiencing 40 years of learning from the developed world, China has become the
world’s second-largest economy. From the lens of the world system order theory, China is
Academic Mobility and World Peace 19
enhancing its international status by moving from the “periphery” to the “center” of the world
knowledge system (Wu,2019,p.83). Wu (2019) indicates that "China’s approach can be
considered as using higher education internationalization as an instrument for influence and
status enhancement (p.91)." Wu categorized China's 'soft power' promotion approach into three
major dimensions: (1) the Confucius Institute (CI) program as a cultural diplomacy program
based on Sino-foreign higher education collaboration, (2) international aid in higher education
towards developing countries, and (3) international student recruitment at the higher education
level initiated largely by the government(p.82).
The CI program developed rapidly during the past decade and the total 525 CI institutes
established in 138 countries by 2017(Wu, 2019, p.87). Africa is one of China's target regions of
educational aid. China had established education and research cooperation programs in 21
African countries and 23 laboratories in African universities (Niu, 2010). In 2010, the 20 + 20 a
plan of higher education cooperation between China and Africa was launched and funded by the
Chinese government (King, 2014; Li, 2017). Hayhoe and Liu (2010) estimated that the “total
number of international students studying in China between 1979 and 2006 was about
1,034,040” (p.79). China became the third-largest destination of overseas studies after the USA
and UK, as the number has risen to 442,773 by 2017 (Open Door, 2017).
The considerable increase in transnational academic mobility has made a significant
contribution to China’s rise. China's rise is evident in the sharp increase in both its hard and soft
power. Hard power refers to its world's second-largest economy and soft power refers to its
increasing political and social influence in the world. With the end of the Cold War, China’s rise
now challenges the United States-centric world pattern, with the resulting tension between China
and Western countries.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 20
Civilization and World Peace
When I was in elementary school, one of the lessons in our textbook was Mao Tse-tung’s
IN MEMORY OF NORMAN BETHUNE. Mao Tse-tung wrote that "What kind of spirit is this
that makes a foreigner selflessly adopt the cause of the Chinese people’s liberation as his own? It
is the spirit of internationalism, the spirit of communism, from which every Chinese Communist
must learn. ..., Comrade Bethune’s spirit, his utter devotion to others without any thought of self,
was shown in his great sense of responsibility in his work and his great warm-heartedness
towards all comrades and the people. Every Communist must learn from him (Mao Tse-tung,
1965)."
For nearly half a century, Bethune has been a household name in China, and he is a
symbol of Sino-Canadian friendship. Last year, I took Hayhoe, Pan & Zha (2016)’s book:
“Canadian Universities in China’s Transformation” as my book review assignment. I learned
from the book that Canada was the first western country which accepted China when China
opened up to Western world; The Canada-China University Linkage Projects did not only
benefiting China technologically and commercially but, more importantly, played a
demonstrative role for other western countries, and it made a significant contribution to the
process of Chinese social transformation and economic development.
Bethune’s symbol of Sino-Canadian friendship, the recent four decades’ University
Linkage Projects, Canada-China academy mobility, and accompanying intensive “knowledge
diplomacy,” gave me confidence that China-Canada relations were healthy, stable, and robust.
Now Canada-China relations are at their most strained state since diplomatic relations
began in 1970. The tensions have been rising since December 2018, when Canada arrested Meng
Wenzhou at the request of the United States (Connolly,2019). Days after Meng’s arrest, China
Academic Mobility and World Peace 21
detained two Canadians; A former diplomat, Michael Kovrig, and a businessman, Michael
Spavor(Abedi,2019) who have now been in custody for one year. A third Canadian was
sentenced to death on a drug charge(Bilefsky,2019). Another form of pressure that China has
imposed on Canada is the banning of key exports (Abedi, 2019). Connolly's report indicates that
the diplomatic channels are frozen and the political systems are not working together as before.
The case of Meng Wenzhou is indicative of the clash between the western world and
China. Meng's case reminds me of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, where an arguably
minor incident resulted in a World War. When people are distracted by dreams of peace, they are
often not aware of how fragile peace is. Meng's case shows that the amicable surface of Canada-
China relations hides the very fragile relationship between different civilizations.
There is also growing fear that the ongoing trade war could spill into other areas,
including technology, geopolitics and the military, and that the feud between the world’s leading
free democracy and the world’s last major communist-ruled state signals the revival of a cold
war-style confrontation. A recent article in The New York Times by Niall Ferguson(Dec. 2,
2019), entitled "The New Cold War? It’s With China, and It Has Already Begun", states that
"The one big risk with Cold War II would be to assume confidently that the United States is
bound to win it." Ferguson warns that “Though the United States and China can probably avoid a
hot war, a second Cold War is still a daunting prospect.” The Second Cold War is a four-
dimensional conflict: clash of civilization, ideology conflict, economic competition, and
technology war. It is more complicated compared to the previous Cold War, which was mainly
about the ideology differences between capitalism and communism. Xi Jinping's ambitions have
accelerated the pace of the conflict as China's influence in the world grows.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 22
Huntington (1993) defines civilization as a cultural entity in which people share common
objective elements, such as language, history, religion, customs, and institutions. Huntington
indicates that "violent conflicts between groups in different civilizations are the most likely and
most dangerous source of escalation that could lead to global wars." Huntington believes that
since the end of the previous Cold War, the dominant source of conflict will be cultural rather
than ideological or economic. The current conflict between China and the United States is the
overlapping of culture, ideology, economy, and technology. Economic and technological
conflicts are manifestations; cultural and ideological clashes are substantive. This conflict could
become virulent.
How could Transnational Academic Mobility lead to world peace?
China and Canada move closer when economic interests and integration are increasingly
more influential than differences in civilization. Meng’ case, one instance of freezing Canada-
China relation, demonstrates Huntingdon’s belief that is “The clash of civilizations will dominate
global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future” (p.22).
Huntingdon points out eight major civilizations in the world: Western, Confucian, Japanese,
Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and African civilization. He states that
"Conflict along the fault line between Western and Islamic civilizations has been going on for
1,300 years” (p31). Aggressive competition under neoliberalism masks the potential conflict of
civilizations and conflict of ideologies. With Confucius Institutes rapidly expanding all over the
world, and with China re-claiming its communism ideology, Conflict along the fault line
between Western and Confucian-Marxism civilizations is bound to surface.
Huntingdon’s (1993) argument of “The Clash of Civilizations” provides a lens to realize,
and analyse conflicts of Civilizations, but it does not provide approaches to reduce conflicts.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 23
Huntingdon emphasizes the differences between civilizations and commonalities within
civilizations. Huntingdon claims that:
It will require an effort to identify elements of commonality between Western and other
civilization. For the relevant future, there will be no universal civilization, but instead a world of
different civilization, each of which will have to learn to coexist with the other (p.49).
Without recognizing and finding the fundamental universal value of human beings, we are
powerless in terms of avoiding conflicts of civilizations. The basic universal values of human
beings can elevate different civilizations to a universal civilization. World peace may only be
sustained when it is rooted in a universal civilization. Some of the important discussions in
fundamental human values and world peace have been made by those of Kinnier et al (2000),
Schwartz(1987), and Karakas(2006). Kinnier et al., who randomly selected 50 Nobel Peace Prize
speeches and analyzed their contents to determine which values the speakers extolled most
frequently. The 8 most frequently mentioned values were peace(100%), hope(92%),
security(86%), justice(85%),responsibility(81%),liberty(80%),tolerance(79%),and
altruism(75%). Kinnier et al argued that values extolled are likely to be universal “because the
laureates are among the most respected individuals in the world” (p.585). I do not argue if the
eight mentioned values are universal moral values. My concern is how to promote universal
moral values in different civilizations. Knight’s (2015) concept of “knowledge diplomacy”,
Hayhoe’s (1995) insight of civilizational dialogue, and Graff’s (1993) idea of “learning
communities” provide approaches to promote universal moral values in different civilizations.
Graff’s idea of “learning communities” focuses on understanding conflict and difference and
building community around the understanding. Both Knight and Hayhoe agree that universities
play important roles in promoting understanding across civilizations. Hayhoe advocates that
Academic Mobility and World Peace 24
"The university’s capacity to promote inter-civilizational dialogue has, therefore, become of
much greater importance, and needs to be consciously fostered" (p.39). Knight (2018) describes
the challenges of knowledge diplomacy, that is "there are the reality and risk that knowledge
itself can be used as an instrument of power to enhance self-interest, competitiveness, and
dominance by one country"(p.9) because of the issue of values-interests and benefits.
I concur with Hayhoe, Knight, and Graff’s ideas that universities play important roles in
promoting understanding across civilizations. The question is how can universities best play this
role? Over forty year’s world peace has led to the fast growth of university linkages and
transnational academic mobility. Does the rapid growth of university linkage and transnational
academic mobility contribute to creating a more peaceful world? When we consider the
increasing tension between U.S and China, and the Meng’s case between Canada and China, it is
hard to come with an optimistic answer to this question. Under neoliberalism ideology, as
Altbach(2015) states that “education is becoming an internationally traded commodity” (p.2).
In the context of a neo-liberal commodity economy, each stakeholder only pays attention to its
interests in the domain of international higher education. Students and scholars are more
interested in building ‘skill sets’ to secure their careers; universities strive to promote their world
ranking as well as gaining financial benefits; states place emphasis on brain gain and advantages
of high technologies that may be achieved through higher education channels. Education
gradually loses the purpose of promoting “a set of skills, attitudes, and values required for
citizenship and effective participation in modern society” (Altbach, 2015, p.2). The purpose and
role of our international higher education and its effect on international diplomacy need to be re-
examined and more importantly, how international higher education cooperation and exchange
can lead to world peace. I think we should focus on the micro-level experience of academic
Academic Mobility and World Peace 25
mobility students and scholars rather than the macro-level strategies of universities and Nations.
Transnational academic mobile students and scholars should be equipped to take more critical
roles in promoting world peace and become an important inspiration for knowledge diplomacy.
Historically, transnational academic mobile students and scholars have had a noticeable
influence in contributing to world peace. Fa Xian (337–422 CE), Xuan Zang (602–664 CE), and
Yi Jing (635 to 713 CE) brought Buddhism from Indian to China and East Asia (Hayhoe,2019).
This resulted in a common religious foundation and could be a fundamental reason for the region
of Indian, China, and East Asia has experienced no massive regional war in their history. A
glance at world history, both world religions, Christianity and Buddhism have been a factor in
promoting world peacefulness. Because the catastrophic conflicts of history initially occur as a
result of intellectual and moral breakdown before they emerge as material power struggles. The
formation of moral consciousness and peace awareness is the most urgent mission for the
establishment of a peaceful world.
Transnational academic mobile students and scholars have unique advantages over
ordinary citizens to contribute to world peace because of their cross-language, culture, religion,
politics, and influence. From 2001 to 2018, 68 % of Nobel Peace Prize laureates had
transnational Academic mobility experience (Table).
Academic Mobility and World Peace 26
However, what surprised me is that when I asked my two colleagues the question: What
are the two alliances of the first and second world wars? None of them could answer. Both my
two colleagues studied and worked in China and Canada. They are typical transnational
academic mobile students and scholars. It is not an uncommon phenomenon for transnational
academic mobile students and scholars who are educated under neoliberalism economic ideology
and curriculum. Similarly, peace education is ignored in higher education. For example, when I
studied in a master's degree in computer science in the United States in the 90s, there were no
Academic Mobility and World Peace 27
courses related to human rights, world peace, history, beliefs, and religions but all pure computer
professional courses.
Rapid developing technology makes the world ‘smaller’. The ‘small’ world makes more
frequent and more personal interaction between different civilizations. This provides more
opportunities for civilization integration as well as confliction. As the intellectual carrier,
transnational academic mobile students and scholars advance and distribute technology across
civilizations; they have much more influence than ordinary people, and in the long term their
core values and leadership role has the potential for a great impact on the future of the world.
The recent forty years of world peace has led to rapid transnational academic mobility. The rapid
transnational academic mobility could contribute to world peace as well as leading to the war. It
is a bidirectional process (Figure).
Academic Mobility and World Peace 28
Tensions between the U.S. and China may create stress that could intensify and lead to
war. We need to re-examine transnational education, and encourage transnational academic
mobile students and scholars who carry multinational status, to take on core roles that contribute
to world peace by equipping and empowering them with human core values. They should be the
core carriers of 'knowledge diploma’ and act as informal peace diplomats the world. Currently,
more than 4 million active transnational academic mobile students and scholars, plus previous
experienced transnational academic mobile students and scholars, are a unique and potentially
powerful force for world peace.
I will end my discussion with Maxwell’s (2007, p.249) leaders’ math:
If you develop yourself, you can experience personal success.
If you develop a team, your organization can experience growth.
If you develop leaders, your organization can achieve explosive growth.
If we develop transnational academic mobile students and scholars as informal peace
leaders, then our world can achieve real peace.
Conclusion
Over forty years of a peaceful world, neoliberalism economic ideology has dominated the
world and made the world develop rapidly in technology and economy. People have been kept
blissfully asleep in a peaceful dream, not aware of the developments that may cause tension and
war until now as the US and China conflicts escalate. This paper argued that 'Clash of
civilization' is caused mostly by the lack of the fundamental beliefs in human core values.
Increasing international studies, university linkage programs, and exchange programs have
rapidly increased transnational academic mobility. Transnational academic mobility is the major
contributor to globalization and internalization. Globalization and internalization can lead to
Academic Mobility and World Peace 29
world peace as well as the world war. We should re-examine higher education and strengthen the
education of human core values to international scholars and students. We should equip them
with leadership skills and enable them to play an essential role in world peace by acting as
informal world peace diplomats.
Academic Mobility and World Peace 30
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