International Border Region Research Articles

Water, climate, and social change in a fragile landscape

We present here and in the companion papers an analysis of sustainability in the Middle Rio Grande region of the U.S.‐Mexico border and propose an interdisciplinary research agenda focused on the coupled human and natural dimensions of water resources sustainability in the face of climate and social change in an international border region. Key threats to water sustainability in the Middle Rio Grande River region include: (1) increasing salinization of surface and ground water, (2) increasing water demand from a growing population in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez area on top of an already high base demand from irrigated agriculture, (3) water quality impacts from agricultural, municipal, and industrial discharges to the river, (4) changing regional climate that portends increased frequency and intensity of droughts interspersed with more intensive rainfall and flooding events, and (5) disparate water planning and management systems between different states in the U.S. and between the U.S. and Mexico. In addition to these challenges, there is an increasing demand from a significant regional population who is (and has been historically) underserved in terms of access to affordable potable water. To address these challenges to water resources sustainability, we have focused on: (1) the determinants of resilience and transformability in an ecological/social setting on an international border and how they can be measured and predicted; and (2) the drivers of change … what are they (climate, social, etc.) and how are they impacting the coupled human and natural dimensions of water sustainability on the border? To tackle these challenges, we propose a research agenda based on a complex systems approach that focuses on the linkages and feedbacks of the natural, built/managed, and social dimensions of the surface and groundwater budget of the region. The approach that we propose incorporates elements of systems analysis, complexity science, and the use of modeling tools such as scenario planning and back‐casting to link the quantitative with the qualitative. This approach is unique for our region, as are our bi‐national focus and our conceptualization of “water capital”. In particular, the concept of water capital provides the basis for a new interdisciplinary paradigm that integrates social, economic, and natural sectors within a systems framework in order to understand and characterize water resources sustainability. This proposed approach would not only provide a framework for water sustainability decision making for our bi‐national region at the local, state, and federal levels, but could serve as a model for similar border regions and/or international rivers in arid and semi‐arid regions in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Políticas para Fronteira, História e Identidade: a luta simbólica nos processos de demarcação de terras indígenas Terena

Este artigo analisa a problemática da fronteira a partir do estudo da situação dos índios Terena no Mato Grosso do Sul, localizados em aldeias de uma região de fronteira internacional. Pretendemos apresentar algumas reflexões teóricas sobre essas lutas simbólicas e também o processo de desenvolvimento da fronteira e seus efeitos sobre as sociedades indígenas. Pretendemos realizar dois movimentos analíticos: 1. a análise da luta simbólica que perpassa os processos judiciais desencadeados por conflitos territoriais entre os índios Terena e os produtores rurais, mostrando como a ideia de fronteira é ativada na construção de mecanismos políticos de exclusão e (des)legitimação de grupos étnicos; 2. a análise das políticas de Estado para a fronteira, as dinâmicas territoriais e sua confrontação com as políticas simbólicas indígenas nas diferentes situações locais na fronteira, que igualmente integram a luta simbólica por identidades reconhecidas como legítimas e territórios.

Transgenes and national boundaries – The need for international regulation

What happens when one nation cultivates a transgenic crop variety but neighboring nations do not? Using alfalfa as a case study, we argue that the potential for international transgene flow is substantial, and therefore, the need for international cooperation in regulatory decisions concerning transgenic crops is imperative. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, L.) is the major forage crop in North America. Recently, genetically modified (GM) alfalfa received a moratorium on further cultivation in the US on the grounds that the approvals were based on inadequate environmental impact assessments. With their deep root system, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, prolific seed production and prolonged dormancy, alfalfa plants are capable of establishing self-perpetuating (feral) populations in unmanaged environments. Given what is known about alfalfa pollen dispersal, such feral populations could facilitate gene flow between GM and non-GM fields. The border between the US and Canada, particularly in farming areas, is very narrow (< 10 m wide). We surveyed along the US-Canada border and found both alfalfa fields and potentially feral alfalfa plants in the ditches along the border. Our survey results provide evidence of the possibility of cross-border transgene flow, suggesting a need for international co-operative risk assessment initiatives between the US and Canada. Such situations could occur for other crops, in other international border regions as well.

Consuming Freedom: The International Freedom Festival as Transnational Tourism Strategy on the Windsor-Detroit Border, 1959-1976

118 Photo courtesy of the Detroit Free Press. "Air Force Missile on ItsWay to Festival Display," June 27,1961. Consuming Freedom: The International Freedom Festival as Transnational Tourism Strategy on the Windsor-Detroit Border, 1959-1976 by Julie Longo On June 30,1959, Detroit commuters found morning traffic snarled by an intercontinental ballistic missile. As U.S. Air Force crewmen wresded with a giant Adas missile that seemed intent on pointing at the ground rather than the sky, traffic backed up for miles before the missile was finally set in place "glinting in the sun, on a center mall at Woodward and Jefferson."1 And so began the first annual Detroit Windsor International Freedom Festival. Timed to link Canada's Dominion Day celebration on July 1 and America's Independence Day festivities on July 4, the international celebration was officially designed "to commemorate the peace and harmony which exists between the two nations."2 In the context of Cold War posturing, the organizers of the first festival hoped itwould not only "dramatize to all people the existence of the world's longest unarmed border" but also display the "determination of the American and Canadian people to protect this freedom they enjoy."3 More practically, urban boosters from both countries recognized that successfully marketing the border celebration as a unique experience?and the borderland of Windsor and Detroit as a special and symbolic place?might actually keep summer travelers in the The author would like to thank Michael Fish, Archivist at the Windsor Archives, Windsor Public Library; Nancy Steffes, Reference Librarian at the College for Creative Studies (CCS), and Miroslav Cukovic in the CCS Digital Media Library; and Bill McGraw of the Detroit Free Press for their help with the photographs. A shorter version of this article was presented on April 13, 2007, at theWestern Social Science Association meeting in Calgary, Alberta. The author is also grateful to John J. Bukowczyk, Helen Ryan, and Katherine Vicars for their comments on earlier drafts of this article. 1"Festival Day's Frustration Day," Detroit Free Press, June 30,1959, 3A. 2 Background Information on the International Freedom Festival, 1964, E & M fue, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, Detroit. 3 Proclamation of the City of Detroit, 1959, box 3, MS/Mayor's Papers, Louis C. Miriani, Burton Historical Collection. Michigan Historical Re view 34:2 (Fall 2008): 119-137 ?2008 by Central Michigan University. ISSN 0890-1686 All Rights Reserved. 120 Michigan Historical Review region.4 And by 1959 both communities had begun to realize that increasing tourism to the area might help slow their economic decline and complement their urban-redevelopment efforts. The original Freedom Festival held in 1959 was firmly anchored to the (apparendy transnational) belief that an "undefended border" presented both cause for international celebration and a cultural experience to be marketed like any other.5 For the two border cities it was another way to draw attention to urban-redevelopment projects both as sites of local celebration and as national success stories. Although it was originally designed "to commemorate the peace and harmony which exists between the two nations," the International Freedom Festival would also, in the words of Michigan Secretary of State James Hare, "show how these two cities have successfully saved our Detroit River waterfronts from decay and decline by building civic areas."6 These beliefs formed the basis of a transnational strategy of cultural tourism that sought to construct the international border region as a unique place where one could experience both the physical manifestations of mutual values and the distinctive local and national cultures of the border cities. Typical of the urban entrepreneurialism that characterized redevelopment strategies in North American cities beginning in the 1970s, Windsor and Detroit sought to distinguish themselves from other cities competing for tourist dollars by creating a unique urban image. Favoring an "emphasis upon tourism, the production and consumption of spectacles, [and] the promotion of ephemeral events within a given locale,"7 the two cities adopted the International Freedom Festival as part of a strategy to promote the border region as an unrivaled urban experience. This festival allowed its transborder organizers to commodify "the ways of life, traditions, and the complex symbolism...

Preliminary environmental monitoring of water quality in the Rio Grande in the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Region

The international border region of the Rio Grande faces severe environmental and economic challenges. Contamination and degradation of its fragile lotic environments are mainly due to stresses from rapid population growth and unchecked industrial development. This study evaluates the water quality of the Rio Grande in the area of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and Laredo, Texas, USA, in terms of physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters, as well as total metals, organochlorine pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOC), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) and radioactivity. Surface water samples were collected at 3 sites along the river. Two additional non-river sites (potable water and residual water) were studied for a better assessment of water quality in the region. Three series of samples were taken every other day during one week (November 3 to November 8, 2005) from the five sampling sites. Levels of oil and grease in all the river samples exceeded the limits established by Mexican regulations. Concentrations of aluminum above the permissible limits for source of drinking water and for quality for protection of freshwater biota were also found in all of the river sites. A number of unregulated elements (Cd, Sr, Mg, Na, Fe, Si, Li and K) appeared in the river samples. The average concentrations of Ba and Na in the potable water samples were below the permissible limits. Ca, Sr, Mg and Si were also found but are not regulated. The majority of the organic compounds studied in both the river and in residual water samples was below detection limits. In all the potable water samples, bromodichloromethane and dibromochloromethane were found above their limit of quantitation (LOQ), but these compounds are not regulated. This preliminary study suggests the need for consistent periodic monitoring to track the environmental status of the Rio Grande.

Nationalizing Space: Cosmetic Federalism and the Politics of Development in Northeast India

AbstractUntil recently Arunachal Pradesh on India's Northeast frontier was relatively insulated from the processes associated with development. State institutions were barely present during the colonial era. In 1962, however, India and China fought a border war in this area: this war, along with signs of unrest among indigenous peoples in the neighbourhood, exposed India's vulnerabilities in the region. Since then, nationalizing this frontier space by extending the institutions of the state all the way into the international border region has become the thrust of Indian policy. The region's governmental infrastructure was fundamentally redesigned to put in place what can only be described as a cosmetic federal regional order with a number of small states dependent on the central government's largess and subject to monitoring by India's Home Ministry. The new regional order has put Arunachal firmly on a developmentalist track, which has enabled India to meet its national security goals, but at a significant cost to the region.

Specification of a Borderplex Econometric Forecasting Model

Historically linked by geography, trade, and culture, border areas of the United States and Mexico are becoming even more closely integrated by the elimination of trade and investment barriers under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Greater economic integration raises the question of whether the traditional approach to regional econometric modeling is applicable to border metropolitan areas. This article examines this issue with respect to the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez borderplex by specifying and estimating an econometric model and then simulating it under different currency conditions. Simulation output from the model is also compared and contrasted with extrapolations from a Bayesian vector autoregressive model. Results indicate that the traditional framework provides a viable means for analyzing international border region business trends.

Border Management at the Millennium

Introduction On 14 December 1999, with the world focused on the coming millennium, Ahmed Ressam was arrested by U.S. Customs as he attempted to enter the United States from Canada with bomb-making materials. This arrest and the media attention that followed, as U.S. and Canadian agencies made further arrests across the border and unraveled a terrorist network, were the latest examples of the increasing attention being paid to the Canada-United States border. Abu Mezer, who intended to bomb the New York City subway system in 1997, also entered via the U.S.-Canadian border. For many Canadians and Americans, the sudden attention to this long-standing, functional, and peaceful border seemed quite startling. Why has the border, long taken for granted, suddenly become an issue in U.S.-Canadian relations? I argue that it results from the following four factors and their implications. The four factors are: unprecedented levels of cross-border movement of goods and people, security concerns, current political interest in both countries, and enhanced activism by local players. Project Description The analysis and conclusions presented in this article are based on fieldwork conducted from the fall of 1998 through the spring of 1999 as one component of the International Migration Policy Program's project entitled Self-Governance at the Border. This comparative international project undertaken by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace aimed to better understand how communities that straddle an international border, and at times form a single economic and cultural entity, manage migration issues in the context of managing other common cross-border challenges. The Canada-U.S. border was one of five different international border regions in this project. (1) During five extensive visits to three areas along the Canada-U.S. border, I visited over ten ports of entry and two capitals and conducted approximately one hundred interviews in both countries with local government officials, business leaders, federal immigration and customs officials, bridge operators, community-based nongovernmental organizations, researchers, and local residents. (2) The goal was to catalogue existing local initiatives, understand and explain similarities and differences, identify and contextualize best practices, and share these findings with a variety of stakeholders, including federal governments. Key Factors Background The United States and Canada share an 8,895-km border (approximately 5,000 miles), the longest undefended border in the world. The countries also share a language, historical tradition, an emphasis on democratic principles and the rule of law, and global alliances. Similar levels of social and economic development have contributed to the social and economic integration between the countries, particularly between border communities, as well as to the long-established access to each other's countries. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service maintains over one hundred ports of entry staffed by inspectors along the border, while the border also is patrolled by approximately three hundred Border Patrol agents (compared to eight thousand agents along the two thousand-mile U.S.-Mexico border). (3) Legitimate Cross-border Movement Steady volumes of trade and the movement of businessmen, family members, vacationers, and students certainly are nothing new for the Canada-U.S. border. The sheer volume of goods and people today, however--which is higher than ever before and shows no signs of slowing down--is one of the factors contributing to the increased attention to the border. Clearly this tremendous growth in commercial and passenger traffic means that more people are coming into contact with the border, raising its visibility. More importantly, however, it is also an issue because of the degree of economic integration between the countries and the resulting impact on the existing infrastructure, raising questions of border management. …

Inducing transboundary regionalism in asymmetric situations: The case of the German‐Polish Border

The German‐Polish border region, located along the European Union's eastern boundary, is characterized by sharp disparities in living standards and development. It also is a zone of contact between two very different political traditions and cultures that often have confronted each other in conflict. Since 1990, cooperation attempts on the German‐Polish border have been actively encouraged by EU and German government agencies and supported through the creation of Euroregions, intergovernmental advisory boards, and other international bodies. Transboundary regionalism is seen as a means of promoting integrated development and socioeconomic cohesion within the context of European expansion and integration. However, evaluations of German‐Polish cooperation indicate that the creation of new institutions of cross‐border planning is not enough; in order to be effective, German‐Polish transboundary regionalism must not only prevail against policy discontinuities caused by administrative mismatches but also transcend traditional interagency rivalries within national contexts. Furthermore, it must engage both communities and senior governments on both sides of the border as partners in a regional development dialogue. This would require combining available resources at various levels, including a synergistic utilization of transboundary links of public and private agencies at various levels. Nevertheless, a vital question remains as to the proper mix of formal institutions and informal networks required in order to achieve this. Here, experiences from other international border regions, such as the U.S.‐Mexican borderlands, could provide important comparative insights.

ESL Students: Sociocultural Contexts and Conflicts Of Home, School and, Community

This paper is based on two qualitative studies conducted in the Southwestern international border region. Several personal history literacy case studies were developed; however, only the five participants who learned English as a second language will be considered. Both studies utilized the same methodology to explore the literacy experiences of native Spanish speakers. The school experiences of the college students began 25 to 40 years earlier than the sixth - graders and therefore allowed longitudinal comparisons of the literacy experiences of Mexican Americans. We begin with a literature review of: (a) the literacy theory framing this work, (b) literacy acquisition, and (c) literacy achievement. Next the studies are described. Then research findings are presented. The paper doses with implications for practice.

Transborder Cooperation, Regional Initiatives, and Sovereignty Conflicts in Western Europe: The Case of the Upper Rhine Valley

Transborder cooperation in Western Europe has made considerable progress. Primarily because of the activities of local groups, such as the Regio Basiliensis, and the support of international organizations, such as the Council of Europe, the Upper Rhine Valley and other European border regions have succeeded in voicing their interests in afairly cohesive manner. However, the continued emphasis of national governments on sovereignty and national interests has prevented international border regions from achieving such basic goals as infrastructure integration and harmonization of environmental policy. Present forms of transborder political activity have been insufficient to overcome conflicts between regional needs and national interests. For this and other reasons, European border regions have resorted to new local economic and political initiatives to argue more forcefully for border region demands. In pooling the combined resources of its Swiss, French, and German participants, the Upper Rhine Program of Innovation might well serve as a model for this kind of regional initiative, perhaps setting a precedent for future forms of transborder political activity.