The essays collected on this website do not argue for the elimination of borders. That would make little sense. Like laws, borders are institutions that enable us to organize and manage our affairs. Rather, these essays reflect a growing awareness that little of what happens today stays within the borders we have created. Globalization has made the world more crowded, more tightly connected, more energetic—and consequently, harder to discipline. Modern corporations and regional trade networks exceed national economies. An expanding system of international governance threatens the exercise of state sovereignty. The growth of global media and the social impact of large-scale migrations blur the divisions between cultures and challenge the coherence of national identities. Terrorist organizations, criminal gangs, and human traffickers operate everywhere with increasing impunity. Environmental degradation, climate change, and communicable disease disregard borders altogether. Should we ever be foolish enough to unleash our stockpiled nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, the resulting catastrophe will affect the entire planet. If artificial intelligence finally goes rogue, as many experts predict, it will not distinguish between nations. Judiciously placed borders might help us meet these challenges, but they will never serve as barriers behind which we can hide. Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we live in a borderless world.

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Contents

Readers may download a footnoted version of each essay by clicking on the link found at the essay’s end.