Border Crisis Research Articles

War and politics. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and refugee crisis on the eastern EU border from the perspective of border studies

Since February 24, 2022, we have been witnessing the next stage of what began in the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War: a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. For the first time in the history of the European Union, the intensive armed conflict is now approaching the border of the EU and Schengen Zone. The consequences of war: the refugee crisis, humanitarian aid, and economic problems have affected EU countries both immediately and directly. While keeping in mind the human tragedy and the tragedy of Ukraine, we would like to address a few important questions from the perspective of regional and border scholars. From this perspective, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is another stage of the new political order in Europe, preceded by the war in Ukraine that started in 2014, the 2015 migration crisis, 2021 Belarus-EU border crisis, which altogether – from the perspective of the border studies – could be described as re-bordering and securitization of borderlands.
 In this joint editorial, we address four main questions. Firstly, how we can interpret the Russian invasion in the wider, historical context, taking the frontier thesis as an explanatory category developed by Turner (1994). Secondly, the Ukrainian refugee crisis, in the context of the previous Belarusian-EU border crisis, is a multi-layered issue, where religion, gender, geopolitics, and rationales meet. Thirdly, apart from the military and political actions, war and refugee flux could be seen from the perspective of a grassroots movement of aid. Fourthly, the war in Ukraine brings uncertainty and questions about democracy and peace in Western Europe.

Representation of Refugees and Officials in U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis Newsbites: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis

Representation of Refugees and Officials in U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis Newsbites: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis

Analysis and Evaluation of the Photovoltaic Market in Poland and the Baltic States

The household, industrial, and service sectors in Poland and the Baltic States have been facing ever-higher bills for their electricity consumption at a time when a number of them have been hit hard financially by the pandemic. Rising inflation, the border crisis—with its set of restrictions, or the spread of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, is causing strong concerns in the social and economic sphere, with significant increases in electricity prices. Many countries are implementing measures to reduce the adverse effects of rising electricity prices in response to this complex situation. The main orientation is towards obtaining energy from renewable sources, such as the sun. The current situation in the energy market determines the price per 1 KW. Among the countries under study, the price of electricity has increased the most in Poland. On the other hand, the development of the photovoltaic segment in Poland is undergoing a strong, upward trend. The above inspired the authors to explore the energy market situation in Poland and the Baltic States in the current economic conditions, along with an analysis of its development potential in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The main research problem of this study is an attempt to answer the question of what should be changed in the development of the renewable energy market in Poland, with particular emphasis on photovoltaics, to accelerate the process of reducing CO2 emissions, leading to a reduction in dramatically rising electricity prices. Which solutions implemented in the Baltic countries can inspire strengthening Poland’s energy market development?

Border Crisis between India and China

Border Crisis between India and China

Multilevel analysis of the 2021 Poland-Belarus Border Crisis in the Context of Hybrid Threats

This article aims to provide a deeper context of the Poland-Belarus crisis, which is interpreted through the lens of hybrid threats and hybrid warfare. A multilevel analysis of the crisis assesses four dimensions: political, strategic, tactical, and operational. Emphasis is put on the executive (operational and tactical) dimensions, which are well suitable for analysing the effects of hybrid threats and hybrid warfare. The author argues that the crisis per se may be considered a hybrid threat, but in a broader context, it is a part and one of the tools of hybrid warfare. A DIMEFIL classification is proposed for analysing and designing tools for addressing hybrid threats and warfare.

Feral Hogs, Immigration, and the Southern Border Crisis in the US South of Julia Elliott’s The New and Improved Romie Futch

In June of 2004, Chris Griffin, a hunting guide employed at River Oak Plantation, also known as Ken’s Hatchery and Fish Farms in Alapapha, Georgia, shot and killed a feral hog while working (see fig. 1). According to Griffin, he spotted the hog while cleaning and immediately grabbed his rifle. The animal did not die instantly, however, and instead wandered into nearby swamps before finally collapsing. Hogzilla—the name given to the fallen hog—weighed nearly one-thousand pounds with nine-inch long tusks and a body that measured twelve-feet in length. Griffin and property owner Ken Holyoak had to use a backhoe to retrieve his body. Afterwards, the men decided to A bury Hogzilla because the “meat was too gamey” and “the pig too expensive to stuff” (Dewan). As word quickly spread that the largest hog to date had been killed, Griffin received a great deal of publicity. He was interviewed by...

Migrant Racialization on Twitter during a border and a pandemic crisis.

This work examines how the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the migration debate on Twitter. Through co-hashtag network analysis, time-frequency and content analysis, it shows that the pandemic was related with positive (humanitarian) and negative (threat) stances about migration. The positive side focused on the need to protect refugees stranded at camps in Greece from COVID-19. The negative focused on the Greek-Turkish land-border crisis (Evros crisis), using COVID-19 to reinforce migrants as racialized others. These findings fit the problematization of positive and negative migrant representations in the Global north as Eurocentric. In the case of camps, refugees fit well within the victim/helpless frame, justifying humanitarianism, this time on health grounds. Regarding the border crisis, refugees also fit the Eurocentric frame of violent/male/inferior other who could spread a deadly virus. Overall, COVID-19 intertwined with migration in Twitter debates, reinforcing the racialized, Eurocentric representational field on migrants from the Global south.

Nuclear Coercion, Crisis Bargaining, and The Sino-Soviet Border Conflict of 1969

The claim that President Donald Trump’s “fire and fury” pressure campaign coerced North Korea to return to the bargaining table has renewed debates about coercion among nuclear powers. This article contributes to these debates by refining our understanding of the 1969 Sino-Soviet border crisis. Drawing on Romanian archival documents and Chinese-language sources, this article challenges the assertion that Soviet nuclear threats coerced the Chinese to return to the bargaining table. Further, it explains China’s otherwise puzzling intransigence when border negotiations resumed. After China’s leaders agreed to return to the bargaining table, they became fearful of a Soviet nuclear attack and fled Beijing; despite this fear, however, the Chinese resisted a border deal for decades. Why did the fear of a Soviet nuclear attack fail to compel the Chinese to accept a border deal? By improving our understanding of the 1969 crisis, this article sheds new light on the conditions under which nuclear compellence succeeds.

Changing Dynamics in India- China Relations: A Study of Modi-Jinping Era

After the Galwan Valley crises on 15 June, relations between India and China have reached the lowest level in last 58 years after the Sino-India war 1962. This standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Himalayas border emerged as a serious test and challenge for India’s foreign policy towards China in the age of COVID-19. This has a dangerous consequence not only for both of them, but also for the entire Asian region in particular and world in general. This is also very pertinent as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met eighteen times with each other in last six years including two informal summits. This has a very serious threat to Indian security and a major concern of Modi’s foreign policy towards China. These ongoing confrontations along the borders signify a far-reaching crisis, intimidating the tenuous framework that has formerly prevented Sino-India relations from converting into open rivalry. India has recorded several hundred Chinese transgressions across the de facto border annually, but this marks the second prolonged border crisis in last four years after the Doklam standoff in 2017. On the one hand, both have celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations in this year; on the other hand, the armies of both the states are fighting in Ladakh as well as in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. But, it is not a new phenomenon in their relations, after the study of a long history of their conflictual relationship, which shows a clear gap in their bilateral ties and up and down in their affairs. There are many conflictual issues in their bilateral relations. The issues of Dalai Lama, 1962 war, Sikkim skirmishes in 1967, Sumdorong Chu Valley skirmish in 1987, Doklam standoff in 2017, China security and economic cooperation with Pakistan including CPEC, BRI, China policy of expansionism and geopolitics of South Asia are in case of point. Thus the last ten months, both have been involved in a series of confrontations along their disputed Himalayan border in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Ladakh that has become the worst crisis in Sino-Indian relations at present, but it is not unprecedented for many scholars not only in India, but world also. It is an important part of Chinese policy namely “two steps forward, one step back” to capture the land of their neighbours and expansions of their own territory. In this research paper an attempt will be made to know Sino-India relations in Modi-Jinping epoch. The main thrust here is to know what strategy has been adopted by the Modi Government regarding Chinese aggression along LAC. Along with an effort will also be made to analyze and explore the various problem areas between India-China relations. Why did this type of standoff emerged again and again in their peaceful relationship? Is there any mechanism developed to counter this confrontation? These and others related questions are the main thrust of this research paper.

Research on the Emergence, Evolution and Identification of the Concept of “Zhonghua Minzu” (Chinese nation)

In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the concept of “Zhonghua minzu” (Chinese nation) was formally put forward under the historical background of the simultaneous outbreak of Chinese national crisis and border crisis. And this term has gone through a long historical process from the initial nickname of the Han nationality to the final development of the concept of “national race”. With the emergence of Fei Xiaotong’s theory of unity of pluralistic society of Chinese nation, people have a better understanding and deeper interpretation of the concept of “Zhonghua minzu” (Chinese nation).

The Turkish–Greek Border Crisis and COVID-19

This essay examines the emergence and the escalation of a border crisis between Turkey and Greece. On February 27th, Turkey opened its Greek border to asylum seekers and migrants which led to the gathering of thousands of people on the border. The border crisis escalated as Greek forces repelled people who forced their way into Greece. Even though the border crisis deescalated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey’s political maneuvering with the European Union (EU) regarding the movement of asylum seekers is not off the table.

The global order, regional integration and multiculturally diverse stakeholders

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how regional organizations manage its affairs, peace-building and economic development focussing on a crucial analytical dimension: the link between global order, regional integration and multi-culturally diverse stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper focusses on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by grounding the arguments based on the conceptualization of regional integration and “stakeholder management”. It offers an exploration of concepts of the “new global order”, “multilateralism”, “institutions”, effective stakeholder collaboration and cross-cultural management.FindingsDefined in terms of EU-style institutionalization’ ECOWAS is one of the modes of regionalism classified as failed. The organization has struggled with the member-states internal crisis, inter-state border crisis, a growing army of unemployed youths, high political-instability, militant terrorism, cybersecurity and farmers-herders conflict. Also, it has a poor implementation of treaties and poor cultural communications.Originality/valueBesides contributing to the emerging interest in the understanding of how regional organizations improve organizational efficiency, this study develops an interest in stakeholder management from the perspective of political, economic and peace-building organizations with different national, cultural and political experiences.

Perspectives on Integrated Behavioral Health in pediatric care with immigrant children and adolescents in a Federally Qualified Health Center in Texas.

The world's displaced population has reached a record high. Immigration is under the global lens and part of the public debate more than ever. The existing data on mental health disorders among displaced youth are alarming, and children and adolescents are disproportionately impacted by forces outside their control. In the United States, the recent border crisis has exponentially increased the needs for accessible mental health services for immigrant children, adolescents, and their families. As a result, implementation of integrated solutions for primary and behavioral health care has grown. In this article, we explore the application of an integrated model, the Primary Care Behavioral Health Consultation Model (PCBH) with Hispanic and Latino immigrant children and adolescents and their families in a Federally Qualified Health Center in Houston, Texas. PCBH holds great promise for increasing access to mental health services for immigrant and refugee populations.

Group and Child–Family Migration from Central America to the United States: Forced Child–Family Separation, Reunification, and Pseudo Adoption in the Era of Globalization

Intercountry adoption from Latin America became a sizable, “quiet” migration to the U.S., as evident in its historical evolution from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The recent migration of unaccompanied minors and families traveling with children from these case countries has been characterized by child–family separation, prolonged detention and institutionalization of children, and adoption through various means. This study has been concerned with how both trends became intertwined in the era of globalisation. To address this question, the authors examined intercountry adoption literature and migration-related briefs, legal claims, and news reports. The study suggests that internationally recognized child rights have been violated in the border crisis. Forced family separation resulting from stricter immigration measures has met criteria for child abduction, violating international convention protecting families in transnational kinship and adoption. A child–family separation typology was inferred from individual case studies ranging from separation by death to prolonged or indefinitive separation to de facto adoption. Reunification has failed for migrant children in custody since relatives or kinship members may be undocumented or parents may be deported. The current immigration system for migrant children’s care only prolongs their detention and violates their human and civil rights while turning child abduction into de facto adoption.

Mediatization of conflict in the social media era: A case study of Sino-Indian border crisis in 2017

Inspired by the concepts of Arrested War and actor–network theory, this study has traced and analyzed four main actors in the wars and conflicts in the social media age: social media platform, the mainstream news organizations, online users, and social media content. These four human and nonhuman actors associate, interact, and negotiate with each other in the social media network surrounding specific issues. Based on the case study of Sino-Indian border crisis in 2017, the central argument is that social media is playing an enabling role in contemporary wars and conflicts. Both professional media outlets and web users employ the functionalities of social media platforms to set, counter-set, or expand the public agenda. Social media platform embodies a web of technological and human complexities with different actors, factors, interests, and relations. These actor-networks and the macro social-political context are influential in the mediatization of conflict in the social media era.

Teaching forensic science under conditions of humanitarian crisis: Toward a critically-informed experiential approach

This article examines the use of critical pedagogy practices for teaching students the forensic science of migrant death and identification in the US borderland. Critical pedagogy, a philosophy of education that centers issues of social justice and human rights in the classroom, insists that teaching is inherently political, and challenges students to recognize and address power structures which perpetuate an unjust status quo. Drawing examples from qualitative data gathered during two field seasons in South Texas with the University of Indianapolis Forensic Science Team and narrative analysis of students team members' daily reflections about their work within structures designed to address the US border crisis, this article illuminates challenges and possibilities for teaching in learning in a context of mass violence.

Seeing Like a European Border: Limits of the European Borders and Space

The paper investigates the limits of EUrope - the leading theme of this special edition – in relation to EUropean space and borders. Drawing on Critical Border Studies, it attempts to overcome the academic accounts of the migration and border crisis, which are anchored in the politicised opposition between opening and closing borders in EUrope and in its current central focus on 'effective protection' of EUrope's external borders. By looking at European Neighbourhood Policy and Schengen area, this article addresses the questions of what and where is EUrope's border is now. In such context, the article concludes with exposing some of the crucial limits of EUropean space and borders that are located in contradictory nature of EU's power of attraction to non-EUrope, which is fuelling current practices of walling against non-EUrope.

India 2020: The deepening crisis of democracy

During 2020, India’s foreign policy was unaffected by the COVID-19 and dominated by two key developments, on whose analysis this article is focussed. One was the turning for the worse of the India-China relation, of which the heating up of the Himalayan border, which saw clashes between the militaries of the two countries, was at the same time cause and effect. The other key foreign policy development in the year under review was the tightening of the India-US connection, which, in 2020, increasingly looked as a de facto anti-China military alliance. The India-China confrontation is tackled by dwelling on three points. The first is the history of the incidents and clashes along the Himalayan border, whose seriousness is proven by the fact that, for the first time in 45 years, there were losses of human life. Then, a main objective cause of turbulence along the China-India border, namely the undefined nature of the de facto border (the so-called LAC, Line of Actual Control) is examined. Finally, the two mirror-like explanations of the border crisis are scrutinised. Then, the focus of the analysis moves on, zeroing on the India-US connection. It highlights the bizarre situation which, during the year under review, saw the worsening of the economic connection between the two nations – a direct result of US President Trump «America First» policy – coupled, however, by their growing military closeness. The fact that this apparently contradictory process resulted in something akin to a de facto military alliance, and the institutional developments that fleshed it out are examined. Finally, the fact is underlined that, even if largely unrecognised by Indian politicians and public opinion, the tightening of the US-India military alliance resulted in India’s loss, or at least drastic diminution of its vaunted «strategic autonomy». As a proof of this, the unravelling of the India-Iran strategic ties is examined.

The World Uncertainty Index

We construct a new index of uncertainty — the World Uncertainty Index (WUI) — for 143 individual countries on a quarterly basis from 1996 onwards. This is defined using the frequency of the word “uncertainty” in the quarterly Economist Intelligent Unit country reports. Globally, the Index spikes near the 9/11 attack, SARS outbreak, Gulf War II, Euro debt crisis, El Nino, European border crisis, UK Brexit vote and the 2016 US election. Uncertainty spikes tend to be more synchronized within advanced economies and between economies with tighter trade and financial linkages. The level of uncertainty is significantly higher in developing countries and is positively associated with economic policy uncertainty and stock market volatility, and negatively with GDP growth. In a panel vector autoregressive setting, we find that innovations in the WUI foreshadow significant declines in output.

Executive-Legislative Relations in Nigeria’s Management of the Border Crisis between Nigeria and Cameroon: The Case of the ICJ Ruling on the Bakassi Peninsula

This paper examines Executive-Legislative relations in Nigeria’s management of the border crisis between Nigeria and Cameroon with special focus on the ICJ ruling on the Bakassi Peninsula. Using both primary and secondary data, the paper traced the root cause of the border dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon on the Bakassi Pennisula to colonial legacy of arbitrary boundary demarcation by erstwhile colonial powers, namely; Britain, Germany and France. The border crisis resulted in a protracted litigation and eventually culminated in the ICJ ruling which awarded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon in 2002. The executive and the National Assembly which share constitutional responsibilities in external relations could not forge a common policy agenda on the matter. In many instance, both arms of government appeared confused and bereft of ideas to handle situation. The lack of consistent and coherent policy framework on the matter stemmed from inexperience and lack of political will on the part of the National Assembly as well as frequent conflict and mistrust between the two arms of government. Consequently, the Executive arm of government handed over the disputed territory to Cameroon without the approval of the National Assembly. The paper concludes that the Executive and the Legislature in Nigeria should see their roles in government as complimentary and always put national interest above other considerations.