Skip to main content

Border Walls in a Global Perspective

Research being conducted at the University of Pennsylvania’s Borders and Boundaries Project at Perry World House can help put border walls into a global and historical perspective. Beth Simmons, the Andrea Mitchell University Professor of Law and Political Science and a PIK Professor, and Perry World House postdoctoral fellow Michael Kenwick have begun collecting data on “border orientation”: a country’s visible commitment to filter people and goods entering the nation. In particular, they are working to document the drive to place security architecture at international borders.

The research team has systematically evaluated every place on earth where a major road crosses an international border. Using publicly available satellite images, the researchers have inspected these crossings for barriers, inspection lanes and official stations. They are finding unmistakable evidence the world over, but especially in North America, the Middle East and the outer edge of the European passport-free zone, that border crossings are more physically guarded by state agents than ever before. The research also confirms existing studies that have found an increasing number of border walls in the world.

Based on the research, gross domestic product per capita predicts which borders will be fortified, especially when one’s neighbor is relatively poor. Most notable, their evidence shows that, even after accounting for wealth, border fortification is associated with more autocratic regimes; free societies tend to favor more open borders. However, the research team believes heightened demands for border security within the US and Europe threaten to buck this trend, potentially reshaping the contours of democratic life.

Drs. Simmons’ and Kenwick’s research group is also finding that globally, reported human trafficking ties between two countries are likely reduced when border crossings in destination countries have been strengthened with inspection capacity. Their research suggests that to stop human trafficking, border crossings, rather than long expanses of border, should be the primary focus of border security.

Back to Top