Bridging Minds: Enhancing Educational Exchanges between Russian and Asian Universities in a Multipolar World
Keywords:
Russia, Eurasia, Higher Education, OECD, Multipolar World, Asian UniversitiesAbstract
This article examines how educational exchanges between Russian and Asian universities are evolving within an emerging multipolar world order and how they can be strengthened. Drawing on secondary data from scholarly literature, policy documents and official statistics, the study uses qualitative content analysis to identify key patterns in motivations, structures and perceived outcomes of cooperation. Internationalisation theory, soft power and multipolarity provide the main analytical lenses. The review shows that many exchanges remain numbers-driven and state-centred, prioritising recruitment targets and geopolitical signalling over deep curriculum integration and shared governance. At the same time, regional initiatives and joint programmes reveal growing efforts to construct alternative Eurasian knowledge spaces beyond traditional Western hubs. The study concludes that enhancing Russian–Asian exchanges require embedding internationalisation into teaching and institutional practice, reframing soft power as mutual and people-centred, and designing polycentric, knowledge-diplomacy partnerships. Recommendations are offered as a basis for future empirical, multi-sited research.
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