American Crossings : Border Politics in the Western Hemisphere

Who--and what--moves from one country to another has real implications for security studies, international relations, and the ideal of democracy. In summer 2014, US agencies responsible for the border with Mexico were overwhelmed by tens of thousands of unaccompanied children arriving from Central America. Unprepared to address this unexpected kind of migrant, the US government deployed troops to carry out a new border mission: the feeding, care, and housing of this wave of children. This event highlights the complex social, economic, and political issues that arise along borders. In American Crossings, nine scholars consider the complicated modern history of borders in the Western Hemisphere, examining borders as geopolitical boundaries, key locations for internal security, spaces for international trade, and areas where national and community identities are defined. Among the provocative questions raised are: Why are Peru and Chile inclined to legalize territory disputes through the International Court of Justice, undermining their militaries? Why has economic integration in the "Tri-Border Area" of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay increased illicit trade supporting transnational terrorist groups? And how has a weak Ecuadorian presence at the EcuadorColombia border encouraged Colombian guerrillas to enforce the international borderline? Borders in the Americas : Theories and Realities / Maiah Jaskoski, Arturo C. Sotomayor, and Harold A. Trinkunas -- Borders, Rivalries, and the Racketeer State : An Alternative Theory to State Development in Latin America / Cameron G. Thies -- Legalizing and Judicializing Territorial and Maritime Border Disputes in Latin America : Causes and Unintended Consequences / Arturo C. Sotomayor -- Political Learning through a Transgovernmental Network : Resolving the Argentine-Chilean Border Dispute during the 1990s / Kristina Mani -- Regional Peace and Unintended Consequences : The Peculiar Case of the Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay / Arie M. Kacowicz -- Rivalry, Trade, and Restraint on the Colombia-Venezuela Border / Harold A. Trinkunas -- Northbound "Threats" at the U.S.-Mexico Border : What is Crossing Today, and Why? / Adam Isacson -- Illicit Americas : Historical Dynamics of Smuggling in U.S. Relations with its Neighbors / Peter Andreas -- The Colombian FARC in Northern Ecuador : Borderline and Borderland Dynamics / Maiah Jaskoski -- Making Sense of Borders : Global Circulations and the Rule of Law at the Iguazu Triangle / Jose Carlos G. Aguiar -- Conclusions / Maiah Jaskoski, Arturo C. Sotomayor, and Harold A. Trinkunas

In summer 2014, US agencies responsible for the border with Mexico were overwhelmed by tens of thousands of unaccompanied children arriving from Central America. Unprepared to address this unexpected kind of migrant, the US government deployed troops to carry out a new border mission: the feeding, care, and housing of this wave of children.

This event highlights the complex social, economic, and political issues that arise along borders. In American Crossings, nine scholars consider the complicated modern history of borders in the Western Hemisphere, examining borders as geopolitical boundaries, key locations for internal security, spaces for international trade, and areas where national and community identities are defined.

Among the provocative questions raised are: Why are Peru and Chile inclined to legalize territory disputes through the International Court of Justice, undermining their militaries? Why has economic integration in the "Tri-Border Area" of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay increased illicit trade supporting transnational terrorist groups? And how has a weak Ecuadorian presence at the EcuadorColombia border encouraged Colombian guerrillas to enforce the international borderline?

US Agencies at the Mexican Border were overwhelmed in 2014 as tens of thousands of unaccompanied children arrived from Central America. Unprepared to receive migrants of this particular kind, the US government deployed troops to carry out a new border mission: the feeding, care, and housing-of this wave of children. This event highlights the complex social, economic, and political issues that arise along international borders. In American Crossings, nine scholars consider the complicated modern history of borders in the Western Hemisphere, examining them as geopolitical boundaries, key locations for internal security, spaces for international-trade, and areas where national and community identities are defined In summer 2014, US agencies responsible for the border with Mexico were overwhelmed by tens of thousands of unaccompanied children arriving from Central America. Unprepared to address this unexpected kind of migrant, the US government deployed troops to carry out a new border mission. This book offers an insight on this event. This book addresses the personal and collective abysses that may open when, albeit many years after the Holocaust, but in the very country of the murderers, one examines the legacy of the National Socialist extermination of Jews.