Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...

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Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine or Commission Centrale pour la Navigation du
Rhin (CCNR), was created in 1815 in France. Since then the population of IGOs is on the rise. It
is evident from the history that the birth of IGOs coincided with the development of faster means
of transportation and telecommunication. These new technologies led to the shrinkage of
distance, fast communication and later on, up to some extent, elimination of physical boundaries.
These all developments gave rise to an increased interaction of nations at sub-regional, regional
and inter-continent levels. Subsequently an era of internationalization dawned where IGOs had
and have an important place and crucial role to play.
A majority of IGOs that emerged on the world scene at the beginning of the 20 th century had
political mandates or purpose of existence but afterward in the post world war era social, cultural
and economic organizations also appeared on the world horizon, like UNO, OECD etc. Some
organizations were established primarily for the neutral purpose to facilitate coexistence
possible, others for the more affirmative purposes of positive cooperation and development.
IGOs act on behalf of the nations to oversee the multilateral interests/matters: peace, economics,
education, environment etc.
Traditional paradigms in world politics offer starkly contrasting interpretations of the role of
intergovernmental organizations (Boehmer, Gartzke, & Nordstrom, 2004). In an ever changing
politics, at national and international levels, the study of IGOs has gained further importance.
The enhanced role of IGOs in the society has given birth to a new field of study that now have
become an independent subject: organizational science or organizational studies.
The international community is interlinked in such a coherent way that world peace and
prosperity cannot be achieved in isolation. In this regard a sustainable change can only be
achieved through collective efforts by using IGOs‟ platforms. Because of this reason IGOs are
rapidly becoming an integral part of the international society. With the passage of time the circle
of IGOs‟ activities is expanding as a result the need for more human and financial resources is
also increasing continuously.
Many of the development researchers are of the opinion that in today‟s globalized world the
socio-economic development cannot be achieved in isolation. Likewise in the case of education,
particularly higher education, nation centered policies and isolated national efforts are not
adequate. To achieve collective goals international bodies are working in diverse fields that