This study explores the intention underlying the North-South higher education partnerships and rnhow these partnerships have been formed and functioning. The study focused on the experiences rnof local stakeholders of the partnerships between universities in Ethiopia and Norway. Two cases rn(Language and Health partnership programs) were selected and examined to compare the two rncases to find out the major rationales, map out the partnership development process, and examine rnthe positioning of partners. Concepts drawn from â€˜internationalization rationaleâ€™ and â€˜mutuality rnlensâ€™ were used as theoretical guides the study. The study employed a qualitative comparative case rnstudy design and used interviews and document analysis as methods for data collection. Staff and rnstudents were selected as participants, using purposeful and snowball sampling techniques. The rnstudy showed that in Ethiopia, there is a loosely-defined policy space that underlies international rnhigher education partnerships, at both national and institutional levels. The study indicated that rnalthough the two case universities of Ethiopia have followed an open approach to respond to rnvarious partnership possibilities, they have often accepted partnerships with the Northern rnpartners. In both cases, factors related to academic growth and development, resource dilemmas rnand opportunities, societal development, and gender equity were found to be the major rationales rndriving the local partners to establish international partnerships. Of these, the interest for rnacademic growth and development was recognized as the most dominant rationale. The study also rnmapped out important themes related to partnership development, starting from initiation, through rnto building and from operation to monitoring and evaluation. The study also indicated that at rnvarious stages of the partnership development, the two cases have manifested aspects of mutuality rnin terms of equity, participation, autonomy, and solidarity as well as aspects that counter to rnmutuality. The study also showed that comparatively, the Health partnership exhibited more rnasymmetrical patterns of relation, in favor of the foreign partner. Comparison of the two cases rnalso revealed that the partnership development has been shaped not only by structural obstacles, rnmanifested as inequalities in academic and research capacity, resource scarcities in the local rnpartner, and the criteria and interest of funding bodies, but also by other contextual factors rnembedded in a particular partnership program, including pathways, modalities, activities, and rnindividuals involved. This, generally, suggests the need for more thoughtful discussions between rnpartners on both structural and contextual variables as ways towards balancing the positioning of rnpartners.