The term globalisation was initially coined by Modelski when he referred to the
European drive to conquer non-European regions and integrate them into one global
trading system. This concept evolved over time and gave birth to a new breed of
internationalisation: contemporary globalisation. This new concept describes the
process of widening, deepening and speeding up world-wide integration of all
aspects of contemporary life. The aspects referred to may vary in nature, ranging
from social phenomena such as language, religion or culture; to more world
encompassing matters such as the global economy or political ideologies. There are
numerous media responsible for the rapid spread of globalisation, starting with trade
and empirical expansion prior to the industrial revolution, and further distributed by
channels such as transportation, communication and acculturation.
The application of the term globalisation varies within the context that it is being
used. Therefore, when applied to an economic viewpoint, it refers to the essence of
making business conductivity an easier practice. According to UN-ESCWA, within
the economic function of globalisation, it represents the removal of barriers at
transnational borders thus facilitating the flow of goods, capital and labour.
Interestingly, Palmer (2002) noted that in order to have any power, globalisation has
had to diminish or eliminate state enforced restrictions and replaced them with an
increasingly integrated and complex global system of production.
The constant features of contemporary globalisation manifest themselves in two
dimensions: time and space. It aims to decrease both time and space through
establishing global institutions which produce manuscripts on consensual global
governance practices.
The market for transnational education (TNE) has doubled in size since 2000 and continues to grow
steadily. As higher education professionals with extensive experience in TNE, it is great to see a
resurging interest in the nature and experience of TNE and focus our attention on its changing nature
and impact.
The needs and desires of each group are not necessarily aligned with the others and lots of boxes
need to be ticked to make a TNE arrangement successful. Tension is likely to arise between the
interests and objectives of different stakeholders and if not tension, points of misunderstanding and
uncertainty. Those familiar with TNE projects will recognise the challenges in fully uniting these
different stakeholders and/or engaging all of them fully in effective, sustainable TNE projects. Across
this spectrum, stakeholder attitudes towards TNE are strongly influenced by: