This book discusses the emerging threats to European stability in different borderland regions, from the Greater Middle East to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans and the Black Sea. It highlights the specific geopolitical risks that could, left unchecked, have global repercussions. The book shows how recent events have exasperated underlying problems that have been slowly destabilizing each of these regions for years. It also looks at the geopolitical constraints and objectives of the countries within these regions to build a basis for understanding their current and future security challenges. While doing so, the book discusses the European borderlands in a non-traditional way, proposing a specific framework to study them, going beyond historical analysis and employing a heuristic process and in-depth socio-economic analysis to understand regional power relations and trends. It develops the key concepts of "core borderland" and "geopolitical node" to understand the future challenges that Europe in particular and Eurasia, in general, will face, discussing specific features shaping current affairs and identifying the main drivers - countries and specific regional elements - for the future stability of the borderlands. This book will appeal to students and scholars of international relations, as well as policy-makers, practitioners, and international organizations interested in a better understanding of current and future challenges at Europe's borderlands and the security risks the European continent faces.

September 11, 2001 marked the beginning of a new era of security imperatives for many countries. The border between Canada and the United States suddenly emerged from relative obscurity to become a focus of constant attention by media, federal and state/provincial governments on both sides of the boundary, and the public at large. This book provides a comprehensive examination of the Canada-USA border in its 21st century form, placing it within the context of border and borderlands theory, globalization and the changing geopolitical dialogue. It argues that this border has been reinvented as a 'state of the art', technology-steeped crossing system, while the image of the border has been engineered to appear consistent with the 'friendly' border of the past. It shows how a border can evolve to a heightened level of security and yet continue to function well, sustaining the massive flow of trade. It argues whether, in doing so, the US-Canada border offers a model for future borderlands. Although this model is still evolving and still aspires toward better management practices, the template may prove useful, not only for North America, but also in conflict border zones as well as the meshed border regions of the EU, Africa's artificial line boundaries and other global situations.

The world is changing rapidly in several critical areas that could reshape our lifestyles, development, the environment, democracy, and geopolitics. Among the numerous obstacles, barriers, and opportunities, some significant challenges should be considered for the future planning of our territories and regions all over the globe. The Handbook of Research on Current Advances and Challenges of Borderlands, Migration, and Geopolitics collects a robust set of contributions concerning border territories dynamics and geopolitics in the current and future context. Covering key topics such as green economy, biodiversity, territorial management, and spatial planning, this major reference work is ideal for government officials, industry professionals, environmentalists, technicians, policymakers, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

The recent launching of China’s high profile Belt and Road Initiative and its founding of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have underscored China’s rapidly growing importance as a global player in development, diplomacy, and economic governance. To date, scholarship on "China abroad" has focused primarily on Africa and Latin America. In comparison, China’s investment and development assistance among its neighbors in Asia have been understudied, despite the fact that China’s aid and overseas investment remain concentrated in Asia, the countries of which have had complex and often fraught cultural and political relationships with China for more than a millennia. Through case studies from Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia, this volume provides a targeted examination of the intertwined geoeconomics and geopolitics of China’s investment and development in Asia. It provides in-depth and grounded analyses of nationalisms and state-making projects, as well as the material effects of China’s "going out" strategy on livelihoods, economies, and politics. The volume contributes to understandings of what characterizes Chinese development, and pays attention to questions of elite agency, capitalist dynamics, state sovereignty, the politics of identity, and the reconfiguration of the Chinese state. The chapters in this article originally appeared in a special issue of Eurasian Geography and Economics.

Cross-border regions are newly emerging social spaces stretching across national borders. Globalization makes national borders more permeable and leads to a rearrangement of economic and political interactions. This is particularly pronounced within supra-regional blocs featuring specific internal border regimes. The ensuing opportunities are increasingly seized to create border-spanning discourses and institutions. This is illustrated in the book by a range of experts analyzing cross-border regions in Europe, America, East Asia and Africa.

This book discusses and evaluates the problems of governance within the European Union's cross border regions from diversity of perspectives and over a range of selected case studies.

The recent launching of China's high profile Belt and Road Initiative and its founding of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have underscored China's rapidly growing importance as a global player in development, diplomacy, and economic governance. To date, scholarship on "China abroad" has focused primarily on Africa and Latin America. In comparison, China's investment and development assistance among its neighbors in Asia have been understudied, despite the fact that China's aid and overseas investment remain concentrated in Asia, the countries of which have had complex and often fraught cultural and political relationships with China for more than a millennia. Through case studies from Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia, this volume provides a targeted examination of the intertwined geoeconomics and geopolitics of China's investment and development in Asia. It provides in-depth and grounded analyses of nationalisms and state-making projects, as well as the material effects of China's "going out" strategy on livelihoods, economies, and politics. The volume contributes to understandings of what characterizes Chinese development, and pays attention to questions of elite agency, capitalist dynamics, state sovereignty, the politics of identity, and the reconfiguration of the Chinese state. The chapters in this article originally appeared in a special issue of Eurasian Geography and Economics.

While European integration advances, many of the countries along Europe's eastern and southern periphery have fallen prey to chronic conflict punctuated by a series of small wars. Exacerbating the situation has been the lack of effective organizational means for mediating local conflicts, facilitating regional development and structuring cooperation with larger regional and international institutions. What are the prospects for enhancing security in the most volatile subregions of post-communist Europe? This text examines the external and internal factors that impede or foster subregional cooperation in South-Eastern and East-Central Europe and the Caucasus. It includes chapters situating these borderlands in the context of a wider Europe with an evolving security architecture.

An excellent examination of how the collapse of the Soviet Union and the impact of globalization have brought about changes not only to the territorial configuration sovereignty of states and their boundaries, but also to traditional notions of state, boundaries, sovereignty and social order These essays focus on the key regional and geopolitical characteristics of this global reordering, with an emphasis on Eastern Europe and South Asia. They discuss the territorial reordering which is taking place at the level of the state as boundaries are redemarcated in line with ethno-territoral demands; as borders are transversed by the movement of peoples, information and finance; and as the lines of territorial demarcation are perceived not only in terms of their fixed characteristics but as part of a process through which regional and ethnic identities continue to be formed and reformed. Each section ends with articles which focus on literature on geopolitics and boundaries. This is an invaluable addition to our understanding of contemporary world affairs.

It has been increasingly impossible to think about our changing world without coming across the term 'geopolitics'. In the wake of the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the United States, United Kingdom, and others, geopolitics has been offered as an explanation for the occupation's failure to reinvent the Iraqi state and as a blueprint for future action. But what is 'geopolitics'? Drawing both on academic and political material, this book introduces readers to the concept of geopolitics, from the first usage of the term to its more recent reconceptualisations. The concept of geopolitics is introduced through four thematic sections - Imperial Geopolitics, Cold War Geopolitics, Geopolitics after the Cold War and Reconceptualising Geopolitics. Each section includes key writings from a range of diverse and leading authors such as Said, Agnew, Dalby, O Tuathail, Gregory, Barnett and Kaplan, and is accompanied by a critical introduction by the editors to guide the reader through the material. This Reader establishes the foundations of geopolitics while also introducing readers to the continuing significance of the concept in the 21st century. This Reader provides an essential resource that exposes students to original writing. The Editors provide a pathway through the material with Section Introductions to assist the readers understanding of the context of the material and impacts of the writings. The readings included draw from a range of authors, writing from a range of locations. The Reader concludes with the latest changes in geopolitical thought, incorporating feminist and other perspectives.