The New Border Wars
The Conflicts That Will Define Our Future
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
An enlightening look at contemporary border tensions—from the Gaza Strip to the space race—by one of the world’s leading experts in geopolitics.
Border expert Klaus Dodds journeys into the geopolitical clashes of tomorrow in an eye-opening tour of border walls both literal and figurative. In the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and elsewhere, the tension inherent to trying to divide the world into separate parcels has not gone away. And with climate change shifting our natural borders, from mountains to glaciers to rivers, the question of how we live in a world that’s becoming warmer and wetter and growing in population looms large.
With wide-ranging insight and provocative analysis, Dodds shows why we are more likely to see more walls, barriers, and securitization in our daily lives. The New Border Wars examines just what borders truly mean in the modern world: How are they built; what do they signify for citizens and governments; and how do they help us understand our political past and, most importantly, our diplomatic future?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dodds (Geopolitics: A Very Short Introduction), a professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, surveys a wide range of contemporary border battles in this informative account. He documents the shift from post–Cold War optimism about a new, more fluid international landscape to rising security concerns about "open borders" after 9/11, and draws incisive parallels between the China-Taiwan and Israel-Palestine conflicts, noting how much of an uphill battle it remains for both Taiwan and Palestine to earn "widespread international recognition" in the face of resistance from China, Israel, and the U.S. Dodds also details how efforts by the U.S. government to secure its southern border have created a surveillance state in the region, with citizens and noncitizens subjected to increasing electronic and physical monitoring. In the book's most eye-opening chapter, Dodds describes how governments and corporations are jockeying for position and power in outer space. Though he draws more observations than firm conclusions, Dodds's depth of knowledge impresses, and he makes a persuasive case that identity politics and climate change disruptions will intensify border conflicts in the coming decades. This broad-minded study offers a fresh perspective on world affairs. Correction: An earlier version of this review misspelled the author's name in several instances.
