Borderlands: The Durand Line - Research Paper Example

If one were to look at a map of Europe and Asia over the last thousand years, the changes in country borders would look like a moving chessboard of colors, lines and shapes. The changes in country borders are very much like a game: one country takes over another and the surrendering country disappears into a new color and shape. Not only the politics and the cultures make a difference in the changes of the countries, but also the geographical outlay of a country. One that resides within a mountain range on three sides is less likely to have trouble with its neighbors, if, indeed, they even know they’re there.

Of course, in our modern times, airplanes eliminate that problem, as well as the aspects of war, and the ease of waging one. What once was impossible in threatening a nation can now be circumvented through aerial warfare. On the other side of things, a country situated at the center of a conglomeration of countries, has a better chance of being overtaken by whoever is stronger at any given time. It is one of the reasons why negotiations and agreements are so important between nations, in that borders can be set up and kept, so long as one party promises to, perhaps, trade on a certain commodity that the other nation needs desperately.

As we know from history, sometimes this also comes with the guarantee that the supplying nation reaps the benefits of the other trading nation who will protect them in case some other outsider tries to take over. History is full of such agreements and treaties, and what has happened when they are broken for one reason or another. Usually someone else comes along with a better deal – more money, more gold, or some other profitable trade. Then again, it could be because the new nation is stronger than the other one and the deal looks much better.

The setting of borders has changed the history of any country from one direction into an entirely different one that could have been possible. Geographical borders such as rivers, lakes, mountain ridges, and oceans make marking the borders very easy. Borders drawn by man on a map, however, are essentially about economy, politics, religion, peace agreements, protectionism, and declarations of war. Borderlines tell you where to send the equipment and forces to engage in war. When the lines are crossed, as does happen in wars, then a different set of dynamics begin to happen and the war can change from a winning situation to a losing situation.

The idea of borders around a country can be explained the same way as owning a home. The walls mark the borderlines and everything inside, including the family, belong together. When food is needed, we go out and trade money for the food and bring it back for dinner. If someone breaks into the house during the night, assuming one has some type of protection, then you take them down and call the police. Everything works the same way with a country: everything and everyone inside the borders is part of the country; food is brought in (or harvested locally) and money is exchanged; and when things go bad, a partner in an agreement is called in to help get rid of the enemy.

The United Nations is considered the world police although it is so only to those who have signed on to the agreement for such help. There are over a hundred active border disputes existing today amongst the 194 independent states around the world, and of the 301 contiguous international borders, 33