Skip to content
Reading time: 2 minutes
A fence along the Mexican border
In his new book, UH Mānoa’s Reece Jones analyzes controversial border security projects in the world’s leading democratic nations.

Over the past decade, the United States, India and Israel have built over 3,500 miles of walls and fences along their borders.

The reasons behind the massive and costly undertakings and what the physical barriers symbolize are explored in a new book by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Associate Professor of Geography Reece Jones.

“People often think of globalization as creating a borderless world, which is increasingly true for financial transactions and consumer goods,” Jones said. “However, over the past decade, dozens of countries have also strengthened immigration restrictions and built new walls and fences on their borders. Consequently, we also live in the most bordered period in the history of the world. My book explores this contradiction.”

Book launch and lecture on September 28

Book cover image for Border Walls

Jones will hold a book launch event for Border Walls: Security and the War on Terror in the United States, India, and Israel on Friday, September 28, at 4 p.m. Jones will present a short lecture at the UH Mānoa campus in Saunders Hall, Room 443, which will be followed by light refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.

Border Walls analyzes how the controversial border security projects in the United States, India and Israel were justified in their respective countries, what consequences these walls and fences have on the lives of those living in these newly securitized spaces, and what long-term effects the hardening of political borders will have in these societies and globally.

Visit Jones’ website or the Border Walls Facebook page for more information about the book.

An expert on political geography

Jones is a leading authority on political borders. He has published 15 research articles in highly ranked journals, as well as opinion pieces in newspapers around the world on the role borders play in globalization and the global war on terror.

An opinion piece by Jones based on Border Walls was recently published in the global edition of The New York Times.

Jones won the Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching in 2012 and also serves as the secretary/treasurer for the Political Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.

— Article updated on September 24, 2012

Back To Top