Faculty Experiences of Higher Education Internationalization in Post-conflict Iraq and Tajikistan

Abstract

As Iraq and Tajikistan recover from the impact of conflict and international isolation, spaces are being created for higher education to internationalize by opening up and (re)connecting with the international academic community. Drawing on 25 field-based interviews, this article examines how academics in these two countries interpret these processes of higher education internationalization. Four main themes emerged: bridging the gap created by conflict, reconnecting with the world, importing prestige, and integrating into the international academic community. Most respondents viewed internationalization processes positively even while recognizing that national political and economic factors are constraining how these processes develop.

Rethinking International Scholarships as Peace Interventions in the Palestinian Context of Conflict

“…To them and to others emerging out of armed conflict, scholarships have much potential to contribute to resilience and rebuilding, e.g., for Syrian refugees in exile (Fincham 2020) and for Cambodians following the Cambodian-Vietnamese War (Webb 2009). In countries across and beyond Africa and the Middle East, scholarships enable the import and development of human capacities for the recovery, reconstruction, and development of higher education and (subsequently) other sectors, industries, and infrastructure (Almassri 2024b;Benabdallah 2016Benabdallah , 2019Jafar and Sabzalieva 2022;Milton 2013Milton , 2018. Beyond settings of (immediate) conflict, scholarships are a significant capacity-building intervention (Raetzell et al 2013).…”