A boundary line established by a state, or a region, to define its spatial extent—‘central multi-scalar nodes where power, place and identity intersect’ (Kaiser and Nikiforova (2006) Ethnic & Racial Studs 29, 5). The establishment and maintenance of borders are crucial to the integrity of the modern state. States use a variety of mechanisms to enforce their borders, including checking travel documents, limiting border crossings to select travellers, and in some cases, building obstacles to prohibit unauthorized crossings. While in the European Union borders have become increasingly porous, struggles over the demarcation of borders cause conflicts: there is, for instance, a long ongoing dispute between China and India over borders.

Bauder (2011) AAAG 101, 5, 1126 reviews some of the existing literature on the concept of the border and cross-border migration and suggests that various material practices and meanings related to borders can be conceived of as ‘aspects’ of the border concept.

K. Ohmae (1999) is not alone in identifying a move to a borderless world, brought about by globalization, but this conclusion is contested by Yeung (1998) TIBG 23, 3 and Sparke et al. (2004) TIBG 29, 4. See also W. Maley et al. (2000) on refugees and the ‘myth of the borderless world’. http://www.borderlandsejournal.adelaide.edu.au/issues/index.html The e-journal borderlands, published by the University of Adelaide.http://chinaindiaborderdispute.wordpress.com A blog used as an archive for papers and sources regarding the China-India border dispute.