This paper analyzes the major historical and systemic factors influencing the Bologna Process during the period 1988-2003 from a World-systems theory perspective based on Immanuel Wallerstein's works. The paper begins with an overview of World-systems theory's Marxist roots as well as its relationship to systems theory in general. World-systems theory is used to review the interstate system, the ascendancy of classical Liberalism and the modern social sciences, and the creation of what Wallerstein calls the “geoculture” that supports the “structures of knowledge” of the modern capitalist world-economy. The Bologna Process is placed in a theoretical context to show that it represents continuity in the historical evolution of higher education in Europe, and that it contributes to the overall stability of the capitalist world-economy. In so doing, and while accepting much of Wallerstein's analysis, the paper questions Wallerstein's belief that the capitalist world-economy is on the verge of systemic transformation.