The New Border Wars - by Klaus Dodds (Hardcover)

About the Book

"What do the world's best-known, most dangerous, and most unexpected border conflicts mean for our changing international relationships? In The New Border Wars, border expert Klaus Dodds journeys into the geopolitical clashes of tomorrow in an eye-opening tour of border walls--literal and figurative--from the Gaza Strip to the space race. In the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and elsewhere, the tension inherent to trying to divide the world into separate parcels has not gone away. And with climate change shifting our natural borders, from mountains to glaciers to rivers, the question of how we live in a world that's becoming warmer and wetter and growing in population looms large. Dodds answers why now more than ever we are likely to see more walls, barriers, and securitization in our daily lives. The New Border Wars discovers just what borders truly mean in the modern world: How are they built; what do they signify for citizens and governments; and how do they help us understand our political past and, most importantly, our diplomatic future? "--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

A thrilling insight into international geopolitics by one of the world's leading experts, examining the past, future, and present meaning of borders from the fall of the Berlin Wall to 9/11, Palestine to Pakistan, North Korea to Trump's Wall, and beyond

What do the world's best-known, most dangerous, and most unexpected border conflicts mean for our changing international relationships?

In The New Border Wars, border expert Klaus Dodds journeys into the geopolitical clashes of tomorrow in an eye-opening tour of border walls--literal and figurative--from the Gaza Strip to the space race. In the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and elsewhere, the tension inherent to trying to divide the world into separate parcels has not gone away.

And with climate change shifting our natural borders, from mountains to glaciers to rivers, the question of how we live in a world that's becoming warmer and wetter―and growing in population―looms large. Dodds answers why now more than ever we are likely to see more walls, barriers, and securitization in our daily lives.

The New Border Wars discovers just what borders truly mean in the modern world: How are they built; what do they signify for citizens and governments; and how do they help us understand our political past and, most importantly, our diplomatic future?

Review Quotes

Praise for Border Wars

"Dodds's depth of knowledge impresses, and he makes a persuasive case that identity politics and climate change disruptions will intensify border conflicts in the coming decades....A fresh perspective on world affairs."
--Publishers Weekly

"[The] idea that borders are not quite what we perceive them to be is the thematic ballast for Klaus Dodds's impressive and timely Border Wars. And it is a point worth making today . . . Dodds is persuasive that borders reveal 'fundamental truths about humanity'. He shows us that 'bordering [is] an activity rather than simply... inert lines on the map.'"
--The Spectator

"This book could hardly be more timely. . . . Casting his geopolitical eye upon fragmented hotspots such as Cyprus, Jerusalem, Georgia and Kashmir, [Dodds] underlines the realpolitik of the world's borders as entities that are both contested and (at least in normal times) surprisingly fluid."
--Geographical Magazine

"Dodds looks at numerous future conflicts in this engaging and informative study: borders shifting because of landscape and environmental change; regions at an impasse; unrecognised borders; borders evolving due to technological innovation, such as those in space and under water being covertly marked by some countries. . . . Somewhat ominously, and presciently, he notes there is no international legal recognition of the category 'climate-change refugee'."
--NJ McGarrigle for The Irish Times

"Satisfying . . . is Klaus Dodds' impressive Border Wars, which focuses less on geography writ large and more on the thin lines that delineate one nation from another and could present a threat of future conflict. . . . The future will be one of 'walls, fences and barriers alongside digital surveillance', while climate shifts move not just populations but also borders themselves."
--James Crabtree for the Financial Times

About the Author

Klaus Dodds is Professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is a leading authority on geopolitics and is often invited to join panels at events and in the media (including on BBC TV and radio) on the subject of border issues. He has written a number of books for a variety of popular and academic audiences, including for Oxford University Press' A Very Short Introduction series, and since 2006, he has written a monthly geopolitics column for Geographical Magazine.

Dodds is a recipient of the Philip Leverhulme Prize, awarded to "outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising."