The Bologna Process: an international higher education regime

The Bologna Process and the ensuing establishment of the European Higher Education Area has had an impact on the ways in which higher education in Europe operates, and the ways it is perceived and related to in countries and regions outside Europe. The Bologna Process has come to symbolize a form of international cooperation in higher education policy, not only in Europe, but all over the world. In this article, we discuss the Bologna Process as a system of international coordination; or, in the jargon of international relations, as a ‘regime’. The article traces the features and methods enabling the Bologna model and their diffusion outside Europe. This perspective offers a useful contribution to the understanding of the Bologna Process as constituting a foreign policy tool for the EU. Moreover, the realization that an international regime can become a player with a life of its own, with an independent influence on the international system, allows us to draw conclusions about the forces that govern the regime, and their international power.