In 2014, hundreds of Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) came forward to assert unbroken Hawaiian sovereignty and reject a U.S. Department of Interior proposal that paved the way for federal recognition of a reorganized Native Hawaiian governing entity. Using Hawaiian methods of knowledge production to weave together contemporary and historical instances of Kānaka political resistance to U.S. imperialism and settler colonialism, Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua and Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada situate testimonies from these hearings within a longer genealogy of Kānaka assertions of ea (sovereignty, life, breath) against the prolonged U.S. military occupation of Hawai‘i.

This essay examines how universities in non-Western, non-English-speaking countries respond to global competition in higher education, where English has become dominant due to “linguistic imperialism.” I pose critical questions about how these institutions can not only endure but thrive amid global competition, and whether intensified global competition has improved the quality of education. Focusing on Japan, I explore both successful and challenging aspects of globalization in its institutions of higher education. While Japan achieved success in adapting during the late nineteenth century, the emphasis on learning foreign languages, including English, diminished after World War II. The Japanese case illustrates the complex trade-offs between ensuring educational equity and global competitiveness, and highlights the evolving dynamics and challenges faced by universities as well as policymakers in non-English-speaking countries in the global higher-education landscape.