Geopolitical challenges force Germany to differentiate and make the internationalization of higher education and research more instrumental to its direct interests and values. A new focus on science diplomacy would not only continue to emphasize the value of international collaboration, but also promote academic freedom and contribute to the strengthening of Germany’s democratic, diverse society. German universities should play a key role in this effort.

Ever since the end of World War II, German foreign policy has sought to promote its interests through international collaboration, official development assistance, and the promotion of democracy. Germany has also aimed to establish itself internationally as a dependable, peaceful partner. Higher education and research fit well into this strategy, and thus Germany’s public universities, making up almost all of its higher education landscape, were explicitly made responsible for contributing to these goals abroad, as well as for fostering civic education (or politische Bildung), at home. During the Cold War, academic collaboration helped build bridges between East and West Germany and promote détente. After German reunification in 1990, higher education played an important role in reassuring neighboring countries and international partners, as well as in increasing Germany’s global outreach. The prominence of academics in German foreign policy is reflected in the work of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which is the largest support organization for the exchanges of students, teachers, and researchers worldwide. In 2023, the DAAD had an operating budget of 839.3 million euros, roughly 25 percent coming from the federal foreign office, 25 percent from the federal ministry of education and research, 7 percent from the federal ministry for economic collaboration and development, and 40 percent coming from the European Union.

A good example of German continuity in international academic collaboration is a DAAD program to support collaboration with Middle Eastern, Southeastern, and Central Asian countries called “Eastern Partnerships” (Ostpartnerschaften). This program has been operational since the early 1970s, and its description still refers explicitly to its role in Brandt’s Ostpolitik, i.e aiming to create ties with East Germany and other countries behind the Iron Curtain and to initiate a phase of Cold War détente. The focus of the program in terms of funding and receiving institutions has changed over the years, but its purpose has remained the same. This is true even after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to an immediate freeze of funding of Russian institutions through any of the DAAD programs. Paradoxically, with the realization that collaboration cannot be upheld unconditionally, the war in Ukraine also put new emphasis on the importance that internationalization of higher education and research may have for foreign policy, even though this may mean a more differentiated approach. As one German diplomat put it, “without any collaboration with Russian academic institutions there would have been nothing to put on ice.” Nobody expected a withdrawal of academic collaboration to deter Putin, but such activities did clarify which interests and values Germany continues to represent, while at the same time offering a reward to an alternative Russian policy (or alternative Russian policy makers) through possible future reinstallment. It is significant in this respect that, in the meantime, personal grants to individual Russian students and scientists who want to come to Germany are still being offered. This may seem a low impact, “soft-power” approach to some. However, given long-standing experience in building and maintaining academic networks and personal ties, Germans have learned to value diplomacy that goes beyond traditional day-to-day interstate affairs and to invest in long-term relationships.

A Matter of National Security

In June 2023, the German government published a National Security Strategy aimed at setting up a comprehensive approach, “integrating actions across all policy fields,” and including the private sector and civil society organizations, as well as universities and research institutions. It specifically calls for science diplomacy as a way to serve German interests and values. The term “science diplomacy” has gained considerably more traction over the last decennia as a realization of the need to provide a collaborative answer to the global challenges of our time has grown, along with a recognition of the impact of science and technology on international politics. What has changed, however, with recent growing geopolitical concerns in the Western world, is that science diplomacy has moved more toward the national interests of individual nation states and became part of national foreign policy. In Germany, there is a sense of having been naive toward countries such as China, Russia, and other autocratic states. Someone from the DAAD summarized the general mood as “playtime is over,” but also pointed out the need for continuous academic engagement that has traditionally served German interests so well.

The National Security Strategy underlines that “geopolitical conflicts on the horizon will not only play out between countries but increasingly also at the societal level,” and calls for “inner strength in defending [Germany’s] democratic, diverse society.” So, what does this mean for individual higher education and research institutions in Germany, given their broader mission? So far, the focus has been mostly on restrictions and less on proactive engagement. German authorities have invested heavily in increased risk assessment regarding the protection of scientific knowledge, preventing the export of dual-use goods and knowledge and so on. German universities have also been debating the limits of their international partnership networks based on political and moral considerations, not only recently as a result of campus protests concerning the Israel–Hamas war but also more generally (for example, regarding Chinese repression in regions such as Xinjiang, or the concern over increasing numbers of countries with anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Africa and elsewhere).

Science Diplomacy at Home

What has been overlooked so far are the possibilities that German universities have on their own campuses and within their own research centers. Germany is an increasingly popular country for degree-seeking international students, as public universities charge no tuition fees for international (non-European Union) students and have continuously expanded the number of English-language courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Over 367,000 international exchange students attended German universities in the 2022–2023 fall semester—a new record—making the country a top three destination globally. Germany’s popularity also continues to rise among international researchers. There are 70,000 international academics working in Germany’s higher education and research institutions, putting Germany alongside the United Kingdom as the most important location for international academics and scientists outside the United States.

Over the years, international students and staff have slowly but surely transformed the reputation of German academia within international communities in ways that could be used both as an asset in supporting the society’s inner strength and as the increased foreign policy leeway that the government is looking for. Democratic organizational structures, academic freedom, mutual respect, and an open and fair, fact-based exchange of ideas are the pillars on which German academic communities rest. These pillars should be both protected and strengthened by newly developed curricular and extracurricular programs and activities. Educating (international) students and staff on the value of these pillars  - and supporting them to actively contribute to them - is vital. By doing so, students and academics can become ambassadors of their communities and offer personal relationships to their peers in other parts of the world. This kind of approach requires more than the strengthening of inclusion and diversity through language courses and support services. It needs the kind of civic education, or politische Bildung, for which Germany has such a strong reputation. In a modern, more international approach, we could start to understand this important contribution as “science diplomacy at home.”

Joost Kleuters is director of the Center for Internationalization and Languages at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Kleve, Germany. Dr. Kleuters was a member of the European Union Science Diplomacy Working Group “Building Capacity for European Science Diplomacy.” E-mail: [email protected].