Should we re-draw our borders? This question keeps coming up whenever societies or groups of people face existential national threats or serious challenges to systems or institutions that organize society. These days, the question surfaces most often in response to anxieties generated by the fear of global conflict, environmental change, and growing populations of migrants and displaced persons. Given that state borders—from a divided Germany to contemporary Israel—take varying forms and mean different things to different people at different times in history, any attempt to redraw state borders is bound to unleash even more complex problems. A more helpful approach would be to transform borders rather than redraw new ones or keep existing ones as they are.
Instead of Re-Drawing the Map, Let’s Transform Our Borders
Should we re-draw our borders? This question keeps coming up whenever societies or groups of people face existential national threats or serious challenges to systems or institutions that organize society.
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For most people, borders have three critical functions: to help create order by delineating spheres of authority; to protect those living inside clearly-demarcated territories from outsiders; and to ensure proper control and management of citizens and natural resources.
