5. TRANSATIONAL POLICY AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE COMPETENCE
Despite some real shortfalls and “institutional illusions”, CEU has acquired the reputation of an institution that is indeed contributing to training the new elites in Central and Eastern Europe. To the point that some in the region, seeing many CEU alumni in leading positions in international organization, in central and local governments of different countries, in universities, banks, NGOs or legal firms, have openly accused the CEU and its founder of conspiracy to undermine national states and traditions. It is true that CEU alumni are well organized and connected, stimulated in this and supported by the university. Actually, part of the remarkable career success of CEU alumni is due to the fact that, unlike those who have studied in less international universities, they can rely on their former classmates from other countries for professional or career support. It was reassuring to discover that CEU’s no-national-agenda approach does not stimulate brain drain. Data gathered by the CEU Alumni Office appears to indicate that about 80% of the 4500 CEU graduates went back to their countries of origin (although not necessarily immediately after graduation). Many of them work for intergovernmental organizations or multinational companies, either at headquarters or, frequently, with country branches. International organizations have discovered that CEU offers a particular type of training trying to meet the need for regional/global analysis, policies and action. Accordingly, many CEU students find jobs with those organizations, such as NATO, UN or its agencies (UNDP, UNEP), Council of Europe, Regional Environmental Center, EU bodies.

The systematic interest in and expertise with transnational policy and global governance issues also explains why international organizations team up with CEU to organize conferences, advocacy or research activities. This may include, as in the above-mentioned example of the conference organized with the World Bank, looking at what educational approaches would be best suited for specific disciplines (Economics, in this case) when considering transnational policy contexts. A similar example is CEU’s cooperation with Tiri. A “small, global organization” whose founders were originally affiliated with Transparency International, Tiri “aims to raise integrity standards in specified institutions around the world (…) by facilitating a growing global network of reform leaders, specialists, and policy practitioners informed by objective and reliable evidence” . CEU’s Department of Public Policy and Center for Policy Studies were solicited by Tiri to help put in place a regional Public Integrity Education Network. Building on its existing policy-oriented research, CEU played a central role in developing anti-corruption training models for university students in specific fields (e.g. Public Policy or Public Administration) but also for professionals or public servants working in countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. With the further involvement of its Curriculum Research Center and Summer University units, CEU worked with Tiri to provide assistance to individual academics and institutions from these countries to develop, adapt and implement such models locally, in an exercise of local capacity-building.

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