Winner 2010 IAU Palgrave Essay Competition Reconsidering Privatization in Cross-Border Engagements: The Sometimes Public Nature of Private Activity Jason E. Lane and Kevin Kinser University at Albany, State University of New York, Institute for Global Education Policy Studies, 1400 Washington Avenue, ALBANY, NY 12222, USA. Privatization trends in higher education have typically been analyzed from the perspective of the institution and its relationship with the sponsoring state. The recent phenomenon of international cross-border higher education, however, represents a more complicated picture of privatization. Geographic separation from the sponsoring state is an extraordinary from of privatization in the public sector. At the same time, host countries may look to the international branch campus to achieve public ends. This paper examines the concept of privatization through cross-border educational initiatives, and argues that the public and private nature of cross-border higher education can only be fully understood when considering the relationship with the home and host countries. The analysis is based on comparisons of how governments in Qatar and the Malaysian state of Sarawak use foreign education providers to support government goals, and how those seemingly public purposes problematize traditional concepts of privatization. Higher Education Policy (2011) 24, 255–273. doi:10.1057/hep.2011.2 Keywords: privatization; cross-border education; Qatar; Malaysia; foreign educa- tion providers Privatization pervades discussions about higher education around the globe. Whether because of an inability of the state to fully meet the demand for higher education, or a retrenching of government support for public sector institutions, few countries have avoided the expansion of a private sector (Kinser et al., 2010) or have discouraged the diversification of revenue streams in the public sector (Johnstone and Marucci, 2010). This privatization trend largely has been analyzed from the perspective of the institution and its This contribution is the prize-winning essay of the competition launched in February 2010 by IAU and Palgrave. The theme of the competition was Privatization of Public Higher Education: Current Trends and Long-Term Impact. IAU, together with Palgrave, would like to thank all those who participated, as well as the jury, and to once again offer our congratulations to the authors of the winning article. Higher Education Policy, 2011, 24, (255–273) r 2011 International Association of Universities 0952-8733/11 www.palgrave-journals.com/hep/