Identity Politics in International Educational Cooperation between Russia and the EU, 2014‒2024

The article analyses identity politics in international educational cooperation of Russia and the European Union in 2014‒2024. In 2014 the Russian Federation and the EU declared an open political conflict between them, what was indicated in their foreign policy documents. Identity politics is understood as a rationale activity of political actors to form a macro-identity, which corresponds to the constructivist approach to the study of identity. The empirical basis of the article is the official documents of the Russian Federation and the EU, and data on international academic mobility. Russia and the EU intensively cooperated in higher education for almost thirty years, and identity politics was important part of the cooperation. The EU was concerned with promoting values of European integration and European identity, including cooperation with Russia. In 2000s Russian official documents formulated the notion of the transborder identity “Russian World” as an important component of its international educational cooperation. After 2014 Russia and the EU continued international educational cooperation while it was securitized, the values were confronted. While strengthening the political component of international educational cooperation, the most important task that the Russia and the EU are trying to solve, is the problem of the aging society and the need for highly qualified personnel. To solve this task, it is necessary to attract talented young people who would share the values declared by the organizers and sponsors of international educational cooperation, and that would facilitate the integration of educational migrants into the host society. The article confirmed that values are important aspect of international educational cooperation for reaching economic and political aims.