THE INFLUENCE OF GLOBALIZATION ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE POTENTIALS OF LEBANON

The twentieth century witnessed tremendous increase in the level of globalization and the twenty first century is taking humanity further on this path. Globalization could be defined as the flow of technology, economy, knowledge, people, values, ideas, etc. across borders. It has a great impact on every aspect of human life including higher education. Some scholars describe the twenty first century as the century of educational mobility and global schooling. The term internationalization of education is used a lot these days by educators and is at two levels: internationalization at home and internationalization abroad. Lebanon could benefit tremendously from the global inclination if it could find itself a new role of importer as well as exporter of higher education. It could benefit of its long experience of internationalization at home and of student mobility as well as its cultural diversity and dynamic society to become a provider of education across the borders, both physical and virtual, serving the near region