The renaissance of walls: under the security lens An analysis of the United States – Mexico border fence and the West Bank barrier

Abstract

New walls, fences and barriers are increasingly being erected along borders around the world. Even though the phenomenon of border walls is not new, the discourse behind these new walls has changed over the years. The 9/11 events had a significant impact on this process of wall construction since many states became occupied with new ways to ‘secure’ their borders, including the United States and Israel, which will be used as case studies within this thesis. Since in both cases the security argument was used to construct the border wall, the securitization theory will be presented to better comprehend the way that both states justified this extraordinary measure. It becomes clear that behind the security justification there are other (underlying) arguments beyond security. This thesis provides insight as to what (other) motives played a role in recent border development. Furthermore the aim of this research is to shed light on reality. And the reality of the 21st century is that a borderless world for some, means barricades, barriers and walls for others that are less fortunate to freely move from one place to another.