An inroduction. A "state liberalization" of higher education ? International mutations and evolutions in the Maghreb. It is in a globalized context of reforms of higher education that we propose, in this theme issue, a reflection on the relationship between th "state liberalization"of higher education and the question of the changing conditions in wich the power of the state is exerted. This question takes a specific turn in the Maghreb, where according to a developmentalist and egallitarian view, the education system has for a long time been considered as a strong symbolic instrument of the nation's building. A North-South comparison also allows to emphasize why the competition in higher education and the implementation of new instruments of management are likely to modify the mobility of students, notably those from rhe Maghreb. Finally it underlines the formation of new spaces wherein the value of higher education is enhanced, between the North and the South as well as among countries of the South.