Academic Star Wars: Excellence Initiatives in Global Perspective (MIT Press, 2023) is a new book of case studies on the global phenomenon of academic excellence initiatives and how they shape the performance of research universities. Academic excellence initiatives (AEIs)—special government-sponsored programs to improve research universities—have provided billions of dollars to top universities and represent perhaps the most significant effort in the past half-century to jump-start academic research. The contributors to Academic Star Wars analyze AEIs in nine European and Asian countries (China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Denmark, France, Germany, and Russia), and seek to understand the impact of these programs on national higher ed systems. The contributors also offer policy recommendations for national decision-makers and university leaders. Academic Star Wars was edited by Maria Yudkevich, Philip G. Altbach, and Jamil Salmi, all of whom are affiliated with BC’s Center for International Higher Education.