Dynamics And Conflicts In A Cross Border Region

This volume explores several issues pertinent to the history of the cross-border region between Mexico, Guatemala and Belize from new explanatory approaches in order to reflect on a history and a reality that are shared by three neighbouring societies, emphasizing the actors and local practices that shape cross-border dynamics. This analysis is contributed by eight specialists who study aspects that are fundamental to our understanding of a process involving various persons and institutions in a specific space. Dynamics and Conflicts in a Cross-Border Region addresses an issue of current relevance through studies that focus on the problems inhabitants of the region have faced over the years: the realities of a porous border; the existence of family, trade and cultural ties that surpass the administrative limits negotiated by the states late in the 19th century; the impact of the internal conflicts of neighbour countries in the border space; experiences of exile and refuge at the border and the violence they entail; the role of local authorities in managing regional problems; the pending task of cross-border territorial organization; the efforts of local institutions to promote regional development; and the presence of phenomena like contraband, drug trafficking, organized crime and human trafficking in an increasingly complex and challenging space. This provides a way to use the region’s history as a springboard for conceiving of mechanisms by which we can together face the challenges presented today to the inhabitants of the cross-border region between Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. This book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Latin American history and Social History.

Has European integration helped to build peace in Europe and its neighbourhood? The book addresses this question through theoretically and empirically informed case studies that explore the successes of, and the challenges to EU cross-border cooperation as a tool for conflict transformation. Conceptually, the contributors link the question of transforming conflict to changing understandings of borders and bordering. Empirically, the contributions represent case studies of practices and discourses of EU-sponsored cross-border cooperation, and challenges to it. The case studies encompass the multiple geographical perspectives of the EU internal boundaries, its (sometimes disputed) external borders, and borders involving third countries. From a thematic point of view, the collection focuses on the intersection of two levels at which bordering processes unfold and are enacted: the level of governance, devolution and international intervention and that of grass roots or civil society efforts, including cultural cooperation and artistic production. The collection thus offers a kaleidoscopic view of border politics and conflict that zooms in and out of the EU frontiers and their geopolitics of peacebuilding, security and cooperation. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Geopolitics.

Grappling with an issue at the core of the modern state and international security, George Gavrilis explores border control from the 19th century Ottoman Empire to 21st century Central Asia, China, and Afghanistan, exploring why some borders deter insurgents, smugglers, bandits, and militants while most suffer from infiltration and crisis.

Twenty-five years ago, the governments of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia agreed to jointly promote the city-state, the state of Johor in Malaysia, and the Riau Islands in Indonesia. Facilitated by common cultural references, a more distant shared history, and complementary attributes, interactions between the three territories developed quickly. Logistics networks have proliferated and production chains link firms based in one location with affiliates or transport facilities in the other territories. These cross-border links have enabled all three locations to develop their economies and enjoy rising standards of living. Initially economic in nature, the interactions between Singapore, Johor, and the Riau Islands have multiplied and grown deeper. Today, people cross the borders to work, go to school, or avail of an increasing range of goods and services. New political, social, and cultural phenomena have developed. Policymakers in the various territories now need to reconcile economic imperatives and issues of identity and sovereignty. Enabled by their proximity and increasing opportunities, families have also begun to straddle borders, with resulting questions about citizenship and belonging. Using the Cross-Border Region framework - which seeks to analyse these three territories as one entity simultaneously divided and bound together by its borders - this book brings together scholars from a range of disciplines. Its 18 chapters and more than 20 maps examine the interaction between Singapore, Johor, and the Riau Islands over the past quarter-century, and seek to shed light on how these territories could develop in the future.

"One of the most complete collections of essays on U.S.-Mexico border studies"--Provided by publisher.

Cross-border cooperation is vital to overcoming obstacles to security building and the consolidation of stability, particularly in regions prone to political upheaval and conflict.This book presents papers from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop entitled “Security and Cross-Border Cooperation in the EU, Black Sea Region and Southern Caucasus”. This workshop was part of the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme, and was held in Ankara, Turkey, in September 2011. It focused on developing a future research agenda, strengthening regional studies and increasing interdisciplinarity and the means to improve cross-border cooperation and was aimed at providing a comprehensive, interactive and interdisciplinary account of security building and cross-border cooperation in which domestic, regional and international dimensions were discussed. The book is divided into three sections. The first provides an analysis of the role of international and domestic actors in contributing to security building in the Euro-Atlantic, the Black Sea and the Southern Caucasus regions. The second section discusses the patterns of cross-border cooperation in Eastern and Central Europe and the wider Black Sea region, concentrating on Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and the Russian Federation. With references to the nature of international involvement in conflict resolution, the last section focuses on cross-border cooperation in the Southern Caucasus, where conflicts have an enormous impact on nation-building, state-building and democratization, and where prospects for stability and a viable peace remain in serious question. This book is a valuable contribution to the literature on area studies, cross-border cooperation, security, and peace studies.

Focussing European borders: The book provides insight into a variety of changes in the nature of borders in Europe and its neighborhood from various disciplinary perspectives. Special attention is paid to the history and contemporary dynamics at Polish and German borders. Of particular interest are the creation of Euroregions, mutual perceptions of Poles and Germans at the border, EU Regional Policy, media debates on the extension of the Schengen area. Analysis of cross-border mobility between Abkhazia and Georgia or the impact of Israel's »Security Fence« to Palestine on society complement the focus on Europe with a wider view.