Boundaries And Frontiers

This book, originally published in 1986, shows the importance of geography in international power politics and shows how geopolitical thought influences policy-making and action. It considers the various elements within international power politics such as ideologies, territorial competition and spheres of influences, and shows how geographical considerations are crucial to each element. It considers the effects of distance on global power politics and explores how the geography of international communication and contact and the geography of economic and social patterns change over time and affect international power balances.

This classic work is a comprehensive treatment of the world’s political frontiers and boundaries, and includes sections on boundaries in the air as well as chapters treating the subject in a regional manner, covering the continents in terms of the evolution of boundaries.

International frontiers and boundaries separate land, rivers and lakes subject to different sovereignties. Frontiers are "zones" of varying widths and they were common many centuries ago. By 1900 frontiers had almost disappeared and had been replaced by boundaries that are lines. The divisive nature of frontiers and boundaries has formed the focus of inter-disciplinary studies by economists, geographers, historians, lawyers and political scientists. Scholars from these disciplines have produced a rich literature dealing with frontiers and boundaries. The authors surveyed this extensive literature and the introduction reveals the themes which have attracted most attention. Following the introduction the book falls into three sections. The first section deals systematically with frontiers, boundary evolution and boundary disputes. The second section considers aspects of international law related to boundaries. It includes chapters dealing with international law and territorial boundaries, maps as evidence of international boundaries and river boundaries and international law. The third section consists of seven regional chapters that examine the evolution of boundaries in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, islands off Southeast Asia and Antarctica.

This book, originally published in 1986, shows the importance of geography in international power politics and shows how geopolitical thought influences policy-making and action. It considers the various elements within international power politics such as ideologies, territorial competition and spheres of influences, and shows how geographical considerations are crucial to each element. It considers the effects of distance on global power politics and explores how the geography of international communication and contact and the geography of economic and social patterns change over time and affect international power balances.

Borders are where wars start, as Primo Levi once wrote. But they are also bridges - that is, sites for ongoing cultural exchange. Anyone studying how nations and states maintain distinct identities while adapting to new ideas and experiences knows that borders provide particularly revealing windows for the analysis of 'self' and 'other'. In representing invisible demarcations between nations and peoples who may have much or very little in common, borders exert a powerful influence and define how people think as well as what they do. Without borders, whether physical or symbolic, nationalism could not exist, nor could borders exist without nationalism. Surprisingly, there have been very few systematic or concerted efforts to review the experiences of nation and state at the local level of borders. Drawing on examples from the US and Mexico, Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine, Spain and Morocco, as well as various parts of Southeast Asia and Africa, this timely book offers a comparative perspective on culture at state boundaries. The authors examine the role of the state, ethnicity, transnationalism, border symbols, rituals and identity in an effort to understand how nationalism informs attitudes and behaviour at local, national and international levels. Soldiers, customs agents, smugglers, tourists, athletes, shoppers, and prostitutes all provide telling insights into the power relations of everyday life and what these relations say about borders. This overview of the importance of borders to the construction of identity and culture will be an essential text for students and scholars in anthropology, sociology, political science, geography, nationalism and immigration studies.

Archaeology of Frontiers & Boundaries

By examining three centuries of history, this book shows how vital border regions have been in shaping states and social contracts.