Why are International Boundaries so Frequently the Source of Conflict between States - Essay Example

 Why are International Boundaries so Frequently the Source of Conflict between States? Introduction The issue of international boundaries is not new to the world and it has been a thorny conflicting issue as our history records. There have been many incidences where people have been fighting each other due to the misunderstanding on the location of boundaries. History has recorded that the issue of boundaries is not only an issue of conflict to humans alone but it is also a source of conflict to animals as well. In the wild, males’ animals of one troop will fight hard to defend their territories. Even in our microenvironment there are issues of border conflict is common. (Hussein, 1994) Boundaries define a geographical or a political entity or a legal jurisdiction that is entitled to a nation and in this regard a government, state or any other administrative divisions. Borders can be defined as a buffered zone that separate between two or more geographical regions. Some of the border are fully or are partially controlled and crossing from one point to another can be legal or illegal. Therefore boarders can be termed as anything the separates between two geographical entities which m ay be defined by a political entity or which can be defined by any other term that can distinguish between two regions. International boundaries are therefore areas that separate two or more nations and defined that legal jurisdiction of any state or any government. (Glassier, 1999) Unlike in the modern times when we are having some more defined border regions, borders in the past were not clearly marked or clearly defined and were just placed as neutral zones which were known as marchlands. March lands were therefore natural zones which were considered to be under not authority of any other legal entity but were sometime placed under the authority of the international community. Fore example the boarder conflict between Saudi Arabians border with Kuwait and Iraq was set up as a buffer zone or no man zone and placed at the and of the international community but they have recently been abolished and clear partitions created. Therefore there has been a trend in which the marchlands have been replaced by clearly defined and demarcated borders although there are still some marchlands especially in the long standing boarder conflicts like between Ethiopia and Eritrea. (Taylor, 1995) Therefore as countries takes a legal stance to protect their borders, there are some restrictions that are placed on the boarder for those who want to come in and out of the border geography. Therefore there are some boarder control that are given to each legal entity and which is extended to access for the region ethics through land, air or through seaports. Under the internals law, every country is given the right to put in place its own border definition laws that restrict or puts in place the conditions that have to be met by a person or animal that is entering or leaving that boundary regions. In most practice password and visas are used as entry documents to border regions. These are legally abiding documents that are used to restrict the entry of people or animals in or out of these regions. This is meant to regulate the flow of immigration in a region especially when it comes to economic aspects for this immigration. The issue of immigration has apparently been one of the major causes of conflict between nations. (Vinokurov, 2005) Therefore we can say that boundaries are persistent elements that define political geography in the world. It is very well reflected in the political, economic and social make up of different legal entities in the world which define nations and states. A national boundary is one of the key areas that are given a lot of security by the armed forces of any nation or state and the reason behind the formation of the modern military might and personnel is to protect the boundaries of these regions. (Minghi, 2001) As the wave of globalization takes to the world there has been decreasing relevance of political geographical regions but all has not been lost. Through there has been increased interferences of affairs of sovereign nations by the international community, boarder regions have not been rendered irrelevance and their important is likely to stay for along time. But one aspect that has been persisting all along history and which continues even in the modern world where globalization is defining all aspect of our life has been boundary conflicts. The issue has been there and there have been many resolutions that have been proposed for the problem but all of them seem not to work. This has been due to the need to protect the internets in these boundaries. (Delaney, 2005) Forms of boundaries in the world There are many forms of boundaries that exist in the world. United state Mexican boarder was contained and as a result a man made structure was put in place to separate the two. This is deceived as boarded delimitation. Between Saudi Arab and Omen, there is no physical sign that is put in place to show that the boundary exists which is known as border demarcation. In some areas a straight line serves as a political boundary between two areas which are unrelated. This is called geometric boundary for example between United States and Canada. A culture boundary is a political boundary that separate differ culture like time former Yugoslavia. A religion boundary spares between to religion like in Northern Ireland and Ireland. (Jones, 2000) Approaches to international boundary conflicts In trying to define the international boundary conflicts, there are many approaches that have been used to define this approach. In this regard the increasing international boundary conflict has been viewed in light of different approaches which have been seen as the causative factors for these conflicts. Let us look at some of the approaches that have been used. (Glassner and Fahrer, 2004) Ethnographic approach Political geographies have been one of the most important sources of information on the international boundaries and different factor that are at play on the issue. Geographical have become one of the most important subjects of study which is helping us to define the modern world from the experience that we have had in the past. Ethnography has been one of the areas that have not been given much attention by the researcher who have been conducting insight studies onto the issue of political geographies and the effect that they have been having on the world. As such it is an important area that can be used for study the relationship between different cultures and the reasons why there have been so much indifferent in the nations and the cause of the boarder conflicts. (Prescott, 1997) If we take a contemporary issue of the current conflict between the Tibetans and the Chinese government, we will understand that though this cannot be seen as aboard conflict it can in a way be in the same class since it is a struggle for independence in order to acquire its own legal entity or a political geography that is free from China. Looking at the social life of the Chinese people and that of the Tibetans, we will see that they are quite different from each other and don’t rhyme at any one time. Despite the economic disparity and other issues and difference the Dalai Lama may be fighting hard for, many analyst have shown that the social life of Chinese and the social life Tibetans are quite differ and this may be one of the reason why they are fighting to be independent. (Farrant, 2006) Ethnographic approach to the study of boarder conflicts takes into the understanding that though there may be an element of inclusion in a country, there are some factors in the social practice and belief of people that may be a source of conflict between the two nations. Take for example country A which has majority of one community and a minority of another community who occupies a certain border point. Then take another country B which has a majority of the minority in the country A. the minority group in country A will lean more to the majority of country B since they have be same social life. Therefore country B may consider the regions occupied by minorities in country A as its own since it has some of its people. Since the monitory in country A will be conducing most of their business which those who are like “them”, the geographic border between the two region may be somehow polarized and hence a cause of conflict between the two countries. (Andreson, 1996) The partial closure of Uzbekistan-Kyrgzstan border in 1999-2000 can be taken as one good example that demonstrated ethnographic approach to international boundaries. Post-soviet time was one of the hyper-accereskted periods in the history of the region as belated imposition of theological of nation-states took onto the existing social geoboundaries which had an impact on kinships. In this regard the legal-constitution division for the valley in 1991 caught up with the unanticipated experience of borderland dwellers when the region was closed. The immediate collapse of the political geographical time lag in the region had an effect on them as they woke up to realize that Uzbekistan and Krygzstan were not same states but was separate countries. This was just but the begging of along boundary conflict in trying to define the ethnographic issue of the two regions. (Megoran, 2004) There have been other areas in history where the same had been expired. For along time in history, kinship ties have been used to define a geographical region or geographic countries. Under the tradition political arrangement the family comprise the basic unit of the society and many families which apparently formed a kinship empire sometimes formed a boundary. When these kinship ties are broken by an imposed geographical boundary, this can be one of the most influential factors that can lead to a conflict over the boundary between any two geopolitical regions. This is because kinship has been used as an alternative geographical imagination that has been used of defines a geographical region. Though Turkey and Georgia share same rich culture, there are strict boundary rules that are enforced between the two regions. In her writings Lillian Lykiardopoulou wrote when she explored the ethnographic issue between the two regions, “On foot, crushed cars trapped between the two countries because the plates didn’t belong to either of them. People were pushing behind iron gates to pass through passport control. Approximated two hours being check, we had advent because we were tourists. This used to be where NATO border the Soviet Union but now the barged wire and observation post in the thickly vegetarians above the se are rusting and economic the main motivation for crossing here”. (Megoran 2004, p. 56) From her comments, we can deduce that this border line has been there for along time since the existence of the Soviet Union. But until today the boarded is still in force and the reason why it is being enforce is due to economic reason. Therefore one of t the ethnographic issue that is interwoven in boarded conflict is economic reason. The economic perspective of border conflict as woven with ethnographic issue is due to the economic fortunes that are likely to be found in one region which are not present in the bordering country. (Maxwell, 2007) Functional approach to boundaries With a functional approach we tend to view geographic regions in terms of the realist of the formation of the boundaries. In this regard we would take boundaries as having been imposed in a region in order to separate the two areas for some purpose. According the postulate by Richared Hartshorn in the mid 1930s there are political boundaries that are established before significant settlement is made in an area which can be referred to as antecedent boundaries. These boundaries can be defined as those which were formed long time ago before the modern planning which moves to accommodate the resign number of resident in an area were put in place. Antecedent boundaries existed before the modernity took place and they still exist in the remote areas which hare not well studied or which are though to have not economic viability. The legal entities in these areas are mostly controlled by indigenous community and as we defined under the ethnographic approach, these boundaries have a strong kinship ties. Another antecedent boundary can be explained between Malaysia and Indonesia on the Island of Borneo. (Heyman, 1995) On there other had once there is a major settlement that has stated to take place in an area, there are boundaries which are created in order to accommodate the cultural difference of the settling community. These can be referring to as subsequent boundaries since they are formed after the first boundaries are established and formed for the function for accommodation the new comers. Therefore along time the legality for those who settle in an area has been a source of conflict and difficult to resolve. There has been defining of sovereignty of an area based on the nativity to an area and some will claim it to be their motherland. The conflict between the Palestine and Israel has been based purely on the antecedent and subsequent boundaries that have been formed on Jerusalem with the formation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the question that arose after the state was formed. Israel and Arabs in Palestine have attached other factor to Jerusalem entering to claim the legalist of the city. Through there have not been any boundary that has been placed to separate between the two regions, there have been conflicts on some areas like the Gaza strip which is claimed by the two countries. (Blake, 2000) Subsequent boundaries are always created after along process of negotiate and they take time to build. For example the boundary between Vietnam and China was created after a long time. (Bregel, 2003) Economic approach to boundaries In perception of a boundary as an independent entity, we will be looking at a boundary as an entity that has been formed in order to cater for the economic needs of the people. In this regard, political units have been shown to have distinct economic activities that are a source of there identify. Every political boundary is defined by strict rules as we said before which are mostly imposed due to the economic nature of each region and the need to protect the economic resource of the region. Therefore we will be seeing it as a borderland or a region that is in light of practicing its economic and social violability. For example the current conflict between China and Tibet is in line with the need to protect the economic and social viability of the empire China. We have seen that the two sides don’t have any social similarly and therefore the only reason why china would be cling on the rugged terrain of Tibet is due to the economic viability of the tourist activities in the region and the social power of adding number to its domestic market. (Donnan and Thomas, 1999) Most of the border conflicts in the recent times have been fuelled by the economic perspective of this political entity region. For example the border conflicts between Mexican and US has been cantered on the economic disparity of the two regions and the consequent migration of Mexicans to find economic fortunes in the US. As a result there has been increased flow of the Mexicans to the US which is polarizing the border between the two states. (Nevins, 2002; Ackleson, 2004) Most of the economic perspectives of the border regions have been based on the economic viability of these areas. Most of the border conflict is based on the natural resource between the tow opposing side as each side try to maximize its gains from the resource. In the recent post the conflict between regions based on the economic viability of the boarder regions have intensified. For example one of the world longest international conflicts in Sudan had been due to struggle of resources between the two regions. Most of the conflict sin the world have been centred onto eh need to control resources or the need to access limited resource in the world. (Dodds, 1997) Conclusion International boundaries are import geopolitical markers that help to deified a legal entity of a region and therefore the areas of jurisdiction of authority in region. Geopolitical regions help toe defined continents and states and their extent of authority. However, since time immemorial, geographical boundaries have been a source of conflict and even in modern time when the wave of globalization has reduced the significance of the boundaries. This has been cause by some of the factors that comes from the historical perspective of those who occupied these territories and the kind of life they have been living. Historical injustices and political orientation dynamism have also been some of the factors that have been contributing to rising geographical boundaries conflicts. However most of these conflicts have been due to ethnographic factors like the social orientation of the people and kinship ties of minority and major living in adjacent countries or family kinship tied. But most the modern conflicts have been fuelled by the access to resources in a certain boarder regions which is determined by the way the resource are mined and distributed to all people. As the wave of globalization takes the word by force, no region has been spared and the changes that have been commending with the wave continue to reduce the relevance of geographical boundaries. However issues concerning access to resource on border regions and other historical injustice committed against people has not been wiped by the wave of globalization and ther4efore there is need t come up with proper m ensure that will help the world to deal with boundary conflict. However, it is not yet known whether geopolitical boundaries will remain reluctant in the future considering the effects of globalization and the increased trend towards the formation of the regional blocs which have become the new economic order to regions. Bibliography Glassier, B. (1999): Systematic Political Geography. New York: John Wiley & Sons Hussein, D. (1994). Geography and National Identity; Bleakly: Oxford Press Minghi, R. (2001). The Geography of Border Landscapes; London: Rutledge. Prescott, J. 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Geopolitics in Antarctica: Views from the Southern Oceanic Rim. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. Delaney, D. (2005). Territory: A Short Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell. Megoran, N. (2004). The critical geopolitics of the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan Ferghana Valley boundary dispute, 1999-2000. Political Geography 23: 731-764. Nevins, J. (2002). Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the "Illegal Alien" and the Making of the U.S.-Mexico Boundary. London: Rutledge. Ackleson, J. (2004). Constructing security on the U.S.-Mexico border; Political Geography 24 (2):165-184. Donnan, H. & Thomas, W. (1999): Borders: Frontiers of Identity, Nation and State. Oxford: Berg. Heyman, J. (1995). Putting power in the anthropology of bureaucracy: the Immigration and Naturalization Service at the Mexico-United States border; Current Anthropology 36 (2):261-287. Bregel, Y. (2003). An Historical Atlas of Central Asia; Leiden: Brill. Farrant, A. (2006). Mission impossible: the politico-geographical engineering of Soviet Central Asia's republican boundaries. Central Asian Survey 25 (1-2):61 Read More