Transnational higher education as geopolitical infrastructure: fragmentation, power, and the third space

Transnational higher education (TNE) has become geopolitical infrastructure, often caught between two worlds. This article argues that TNE operates in a third-space policy arena, which is neither fully domestic nor fully international and where universities, governments, markets, and regulators pursue overlapping and often conflicting goals. Increasingly this third-space is shaped by tensions from conflicting state interests, national security concerns, economic competition, and global fragmentation. The article shows how the resulting governance failures in this space are borne disproportionately by those with the least power; namely, students in legally ambiguous enrolment relationships and academic staff navigating political constraints with limited institutional protection. Existing research and governance frameworks are insufficient to address this reality. Responsible governance requires accountability and risk-mitigation structures suited to ambiguity, asymmetry, political tension and honesty about who pays the price when those structures fail.