ABSTRACT
In the last chapter, we discussed how the domestic social environment affects universities in the United States. In this chapter, we will discuss how global events, in turn, influence and dramatically impact domestic social environments in which universities function. Teaching students on the Internet worldwide, the influx of students from abroad, the migration of scholars, and the general global exchange of research findings and theoretical ideas are among the global events that directly impact universities. Overarching global social and economic developments create the conditions in which these events take place. Currently, major multinational trade agreements, administrative and economic unification/disunification of Europe, dramatic upheavals in the Middle East, and the global economic emergence of countries such as China and India have dramatic sways on the lives of learners and educators. These profound changes are still unfolding and influencing universities in multiple ways. Undoubtedly, global events of the future will be different, and they would influence various countries in different ways. However, as far as the model for the technology-based institutions of higher education is concerned, the imperative remains that global developments have a direct impact on the ability of universities to optimize transactional distance for each learner.
