ABSTRACT
In this book we have endeavored to stand back from the minutiae of the experiences of individual countries and offshore higher education providers. Rather, we sketch a broad overview of what we see as the key developments and issues at this stage in the evolution of what is a very recent phenomenon in the education sector. We have attempted to build upon the rapidly growing body of descriptive literature, which tends to focus on national or institutional experience, and definitional literature, which sets out to clarify the meaning of key terms so that a coherent vocabulary can emerge. We are heavily indebted to this work and if space permitted would have included many more detailed accounts of experiences drawn from empirical studies and a more considered account of the meaning of the various terms we have chosen to use. We hope that the broad arguments and observations that we have raised here will assist in the analysis of individual cases, and we are very aware that our arguments need to be further tested and refined. In this conclusion we revisit what we see as the major claims made in the book that we believe need to be further tested, and point to the areas of future research that logically follow.
