Internationalization: Westernization??

I have been thinking about the tern "Internationalization" and what it means recently. It has been a much discussed topic while I was on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme from 2000 to 2003. No one has really been able to come up with a clear definition.  One is left leaving the discussion table with as many ambiguous examples as they started with. To this day I am still confused as to what exactly is it. International relations, on the other hand is a little less ambiguous but still there is the question of how can it be applied. International relations occur when people and cultures interact. In the best case one develops a greater understanding of oneself and an appreciation of others.

After having traveled the world extensively I often wonder how countries often seems to think of internationalization as "westernization". in my opinion it is a sad reality that too many people/countries have no clue as to what to do to "internationalize" so they "westernize" instead thinking that this is "internationalization". Of course it is one aspect but let's hope that this becomes the definition and the end all for the debate on internationalization.

 

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