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Part1
existenceoftheEuropeanUnion(EU)16anditscrossborderaccess.Asiashould
bedividedintotwozones-JapanandChinawithChinabeingstructuredtoaim
forthreeorfourworldclassuniversities.ThisobviouslywilltaketimebutPeking
UniversityandTsinghuaUniversityarewellonthewaytoestablishingtheirstatusas
worldclass.IfthePRCdevotesasmuchmoneytoestablishworldclassuniversities
asitdidforthe2008Olympicsitshouldbeabletoachievetheirstatusinagenera-
tion.AthirdzonecouldbedevotedtoIndia.Thenaturalselectionshouldinclude
thisgroupingPakistanandAfghanistan.Perhapseducationcanovercomeenmityin
oneortwogenerations.TheindependentSovietRepublicswouldbeincludedwith
Russiaasaseparateblocwithoneortwouniversities.PolandwouldjoinCentral
Europeancountrieswhereweagainhavetoovercomelanguagedifferences.Inthe
MiddleEastcountriesdesiretogobackwardineducation.Sothereisnoneedto
considerthem.Thereareinaworldoftheirown.
TheUSshouldstandforsixorsevenworldclassuniversitiesprimarilybecauseit
hassuchaheadstartandUSuniversitiesserveasamodelforworldclassuniversity
status.Africaisnotacompetitoratthistime.Itmaytakeahundredyearstoclimb
theladderofsuccessbuttheclockwillnotbegintickinguntiltheAfricancountries
decidetosettletheirdifferencebynegotiationsratherthanwars.Wecanstartwhen
thevariouscountriesdecidethattheyneedthreeorfouruniversitiesofnoteand
agreewhatneedstobedoneandhowtheywillpursuethisgoal.Languagedifficul-
tieswillalsorequireresolution.
Inthelastanalysisanyacceptablecoordinationofsovereignnationswillbesat-
isfactoryaslongasthenationsinvolvedagreeonthecombination.Thismaybe
aproblemfortheUnitedNations(UN).
4.Money-Thereremainsonemorefactortodiscuss.Thatistheallimportant
matterofmoneytofinancetheestablishmentandmaintenanceofworldclassuni-
versities.Themostlikelymeansthroughouttheworldisdirectsupportbythestate.
FewcountrieswillfollowtheUSmodelofprivatelyfundedinstitutions.Virtually
anynationcansupportaworldclassuniversityortwooreventhreeifitaccordsthe
functionahighenoughpriority.Manypoorcountrieshavesophisticatedmilitary
equipmentandweaponsoranationalairlineservicewithmodernjets.Whynotsuch
aninvestmentineducation?Ifthecountryagreestofinanceeducationprobablythe
mostsignificantissueiswhatelementinthefieldofeducationhasthehighestreturn
ontheinvestment.ForpoornationsitislikelythatK1-K12hasthehighestpayoff
sincethesecountrieshaveasizeableilliteratepopulation.Teachingthemassesto
readandwriteisthebiggestbenefit.Itisunlikelythatanycountrywillachievemo-
dernityandeconomicdevelopmentwithlargescaleilliteracy.
Worldclassuniversitiesthroughouttheworldbenefitarelativelysmallminority
ofitspopulation.Howdoesathirdworldcountryfocusonaneliteminoritywhen
alargesegmentofthepopulationremainsbelowthepovertylineprimarilybecauseit
16Ibid.Therearetwoparticularareasofactivitydirectedatdevelopingandimprovinghigher
educationintheEUcountriesandthusraisingthestatusandvisibilityofEuropeanuniversities.
ThefirstofthesemainlyconcernsthequalityofresearchundertakeninEuropeanuniversitiesand
asecondaimisinnovationthatalsoconnectstoresearchanddevelopmentactivitiesintheEU.