Universities as EU Diplomatic Actors — Marina Cino Pagliarello

19. 8. 2025

This episode of The IR thinker examines how universities and academics operate as informal diplomatic actors in the European Union’s foreign policy, in conversation with Dr Marina Cino Pagliarello. The discussion explores the growing role of “academic diplomacy” in contexts such as the war in Ukraine and EU–Africa relations, highlighting how higher education partnerships, mobility schemes and research collaborations can project EU norms on human rights, sustainability and rule of law, while also advancing strategic interests. 

We look at the tensions between academic autonomy and foreign policy objectives, the specific challenges of engagement in authoritarian or contested environments, and the ways programmes such as Erasmus+, Horizon Europe and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions might be reformed to respond more effectively to geopolitical pressures, reduce elitism and address underexplored dimensions of inclusivity and hierarchy in EU academic outreach.

Marina Cino Pagliarello

Dr Marina Cino Pagliarello is a strategic adviser and consultant specialising in academic diplomacy, university positioning and international partnerships. She is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at the European University Institute and a Senior Research Associate at LSE Consulting, working at the intersection of EU politics, public policy and transnational higher education. Drawing on extensive experience in European university alliances and high-level institutional engagement, she helps universities and public bodies design and implement international strategies that make effective use of education and research as tools of soft power in an increasingly competitive global landscape.

Publications:

Integration theories and European education policy: Bringing the role of ideas back in

Ideas and European education policy, 1973-2020: Constructing the Europe of knowledge?

Unpacking ambiguity in ideational change: The polysemy of the ‘Europe of Knowledge’

Content

00:00 – Introduction
01:43 – Universities as Informal Diplomatic Actors in EU Foreign Policy
07:43 – Academic Diplomacy During the War in Ukraine
13:32 – Balancing Academic Autonomy and EU Foreign Policy Goals
19:37 – Challenges in Authoritarian or Contested Environments
25:00 – EU–Africa University Cooperation Frameworks
28:31 – Promoting EU Norms: Human Rights, Sustainability, and More
33:04 – EU Funding Mechanisms: Erasmus+, Horizon, MSCA
40:50 – Reforming and Strengthening EU Academic Programmes
44:54 – Institutional Hierarchies in Academic Diplomacy
48:15 – Geopolitical Pressures on Academic Engagement
53:36 – Inclusivity vs. Elitism in EU Academic Deployment
01:00:12 – Gaps and Underresearched Areas in Academic Diplomacy