Beyond the EU: Strategic Diplomacy and Global Engagement in European University Alliances

This paper investigates how European University Alliances function as infrastructures of higher education diplomacy beyond the EU’s borders. Drawing on original empirical data, it explores the external engagement of selected alliances, with a focus on partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. The analysis examines how Global Engagement Offices operate as transnational governance nodes, how alliances interact with both state and non-state actors - including EU Delegations, national ministries, and civil society organisations - and how universities perform diplomatic functions in fragile or transitional regions. By framing university alliances as emerging soft power infrastructures, the paper discusses their contribution to the EU’s external action, including initiatives such as the Global. It also reflects on the strategic tensions between institutional autonomy, national foreign policy agendas, and supranational coordination. Ultimately, the paper advances a conceptual and empirical understanding of alliances as transnational actors in Europe’s international education diplomacy, offering insights relevant for policy and practice at the intersection of higher education and external relations.