In Search of the Status of an Educational Great Power? Analysis of Russia’s Educational Diplomacy Discourse

Abstract

This paper addresses official Russian discourse on educational diplomacy—that is, discourse that prioritizes the political rationale for internationalization of higher education. When Russia promotes its higher education abroad and recruits international students to Russian universities on the territory of the Russian Federation (RF) or abroad, it engages in educational diplomacy as part of its public diplomacy activities. Thus, in official discourse, cross-border education should also serve foreign-policy goals. Economic, cultural, and academic rationales do co-exist, but they are instrumental to the political rationale. This becomes evident with the emphasis on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as the “target audience” for Russia’s higher education promotion and the main recruitment area, in line with Russia’s foreign-policy priorities; and the understanding that cross-border education would help Russia to enhance its negative external image and that alumni would function as “Russian diplomats” after returning home.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers and the special issue editors Hanna Smith and Tuomas Forsberg for their valuable comments and productive criticism on earlier drafts. I also wish to thank David Arter, Mikko Poutanen, and other participants of the research seminar in Political Science, University of Tampere.

FUNDING

Work on this article was supported by the University of Tampere, and the Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in Russian Studies: Choices of Russian Modernization (Grant no. 284664).

Notes

^1. Here the term international students is employed even though in Russian official discourse, the term usually used is foreign students (inostrannye studenty).

^2. These documents include the Concept of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Education of National Cadres for Foreign States in Russian Education Institutions (hereafter Concept 2002), Concept of Export of Educational Services of the Russian Federation for the Period of 2011–2020 (draft; hereafter Concept 2010), Sub-program “Development of Higher Education” of the State Program of the Russian Federation “Development of Education” for 2013–2020 (hereafter Program 2012).

^3. The author refers to Unesco statistics.

^4. See Safonova 2011 for the analysis of student flows from Kazakhstan to Russia.

^5. Rectors and vice-rectors of state universities could be taken as representatives of the state, particularly rectors of such universities as the Lomonosov Moscow State University or the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. However, they have been excluded here from the state-level discourse for the purpose of ongoing and more detailed research of university-level discourse and practices.

^6. Russkii Mir (The Russian World Foundation) was established by President Putin in 2007. It is a foundation under the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education and Science and headed by Vyacheslav Nikonov (Laruelle 2015, 13).

Additional information

Funding

Work on this article was supported by the University of Tampere, and the Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in Russian Studies: Choices of Russian Modernization (Grant no. 284664).