Narratives of Mobility: The Influence of BRI and IPS on Educational Migration Choices among Bangladeshi Youth

21st century educational migration patterns are an important matter of determination in light of geopolitical changes. Educational opportunities in Bangladesh are contrary to the Chinese and the U.S. Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) paradigms. These are programs sponsored by the state in the form of special scholarship programs, language schools, such as Confucius Institutes and American Spaces, and institutional-level strategic linkages. This paper examines how Bangladeshi university students can transform these geopolitical tools into strategic thinking. An exploration of the relationship between career aspirations and gendered experiences and the destination choices of students is conducted based on the information received in qualitative semi-structured interviews. The results show that the issue of youth mobility is not personal; instead, students go through the Great Power rivalry to realign their educational ambitions with the evolving world order. Ultimately, this paper will demonstrate that global elite events have a direct influence on the drive and desire of Global South youth to participate in such events. Linking macro-level geopolitics with micro-level student decisions, this paper demonstrates the changing character of human capital flight in a multipolar world. The implications of the findings suggest that the traditional Global North hegemony in education is being shaken by new geopolitical infrastructures, which offer a new vision of how geopolitical soft power is reshaping the life paths of people, especially by offering alternative educational opportunities and resources to empower youth in the Global South.