Orders and borders: Unipolarity and the issue of homeland security

Abstract

Much has been written about the ordering principle known as “unipolarity” in international politics. Ever since the prospect of “systemic change” first began to be glimpsed in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War's ending, controversy has swirled about whether the international system, once so easily styled as a “bipolar” order, had now become by default a unipolar one, and if it had, many turned to wondering what its implications must be. This article argues that unipolarity, while on the wane, continues to be a reasonably accurate label for the current structure of that international system, and moreover that it possesses implications for the management of the Canada-US border, in an era when “homeland security” has become an important theme in discussions of North American security.