Border security

Whom Do Border Fences Keep Out?

Border barriers work as powerful political symbols but fail to fulfil their intended purpose. The Great Wall of China did little to halt Genghis Khan and his Mongolian army from conquering 13th century China. Constantinople’s ring of fortifications could not stop the Ottomans from taking over what is modern-day Istanbul. Persian soldiers breached the fortified walls of Babylon in 539 B.C. Yet the building of border structures persists. Around 40 nations in the world have built barriers on their borders with 65 other countries since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Justifications for building border barriers range from protecting a territory to the threat of terror, which forced Turkey last August to reinforce pre-existing wire-fencing while adding concrete walls to parts of its border with Syria.