What’s In a Border?
As we mark the 4th of July and America’s birthday (although some historians argue it was actually July 2nd) I got to thinking recently about all the issues regarding the border. As we have the immigration debate, one component is sealing the border. But the more I thought about it, the more I had to ask myself, what exactly is the “border”?
You’re probably saying, “Hey idiot boy, look at the map and you can see where the border is!” That’s not the border I’m talking about. Last month Honda announced a major expansion in Indiana. The state just signed a deal to lease the Toll Road for nearly $4 billion to a Spanish-Australian conglomerate. On any given day there are millions of transactions taking place with an international flavor. Heck, I got pictures the other day from my sister-in-law in the Philippines of my new nephew. They didn’t come through the mail, they came via the Internet. I can sit at my computer and chat with friends in London, Moscow and New Delhi simultaneously. This was virtually impossible 10 years ago. And despite all the positives about living in a virtually borderless world, there are also negatives; the international fight against terrorism, the spread of diseases like avian bird flu, and of course illegal immigration. Although I’m in Indianapolis, I can still be affected by all these things.
So with such a breakdown in barriers to trade, commerce and communication, I really have to wonder if the old notions of a border still matter. According to Moises Naim of Foreign Policy Magazine, building fences and National Guard troops aren’t going to necessarily make things safer. Technology and trade have redefined how we look at the world. Is the border a few thousand miles away, or right around the corner at my financial broker, or is it my mouse when I turn on the computer and click on the internet?
As the world’s problems become more complex, nations, Naim argues, will have to work closer together to solve them giving up some of their “sovereignty” in order to survive.
As we celebrate America’s birthday, independence and national sovereignty, we may want to think that we are lot more connected to the rest of the world than we think and while national boundaries may look good on a map, they mean less as and less as time goes by.
