Rhythms of Soft Power Influence and Transatlantic Higher Education

This article looks at transatlantic educational relations as an element of cultural relations more generally. It begins by locating higher education within the context of EU cultural diplomacy (CD) and soft power and in a comparative transatlantic context. Based on a study of key historical components in the transatlantic relationship and dialogue in higher education, it then shows how higher education relations across the Atlantic are subject to what we describe as the ‘rhythms of soft power’. The article concludes that while CD in general, and higher education relations as a component of soft power in particular, might try to assist in the mitigation of prevailing politicosecurity and economic dynamics, it is going to be an uphill battle in an era in which we are witnessing at best a crisis and at worst the pending collapse of the liberal international order.