Jason Ackleson

Directions in border security research

Abstract This research note offers an appraisal of the contemporary state of U.S.-Mexico border security studies. An overview of recent literature on this subject is connected through two landmark political developments impacting the U.S.-Mexico frontier: the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001. These two political events have had a major effect both on the ground and in the academy as scholars attempt to come to terms with the contradictions, complexities, and general problems of border security under neoliberal free trade and the threat of terrorism. The analysis concludes that while some important research in U.S.-Mexico border security exists, recent developments—coupled with pre-existing gaps in the literature—suggest that much crucial work remains to be done to understand and evaluate the complex dynamics of the new border security environment.

From “Thin” to “Thick” (and Back Again?): The Politics and Policies of the Contemporary US–Canada Border

Despite making modest progress on challenging management and security issues common to their shared border, the United States and Canada have, in recent years, slipped behind on advancing a progressive border agenda. The momentum unleashed under the 30-point Smart Border Action Plan, signed in late 2001, has slowed in the face of new regulations at the border, many of which were initiated by the United States. These include significant changes in US admission procedures under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), new border policing resources and protocols, as well as new customs and inspection fees. The much-heralded Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), designed to facilitate both trade and security between the two countries, has also lost momentum, with the last trilateral meeting of leaders resulting in little more than a press release. As a result of these and other developments, it appears that rather than “thinning,” the US–Canada border is “thickening” at precisely the time when greater economic and security cooperation is necessary to bolster North American competitiveness in an increasingly globalized economy and complex security environment. This article will investigate some of the key reasons behind these policy developments, exploring some of the early positions that frame approaches to border management in the Obama administration. It will also offer some thoughts on opportunities for improved border management policies by providing some specific recommendations, which may help advance solutions to pressing – and festering – bilateral security and trade issues.

Border security in risk society

Abstract This article examines contemporary migration and border controls in the U.S.‐Mexico borderlands through the prism of ‘risk society,’ a theoretical approach that reconceptualizes security and social change. Specifically, it analyzes the interplay between undocumented migration flows, policy reform, and the new ‘Smart Border’ regulatory regime initiated by the United States to police its frontiers. The events of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent focus on possible terrorism across U.S. borders, altered the political equation on migration and other bilateral issues in favor of technologically‐oriented border control systems. These systems, along with a potential guest worker program, are seen as a response to the difficult to detect threats inherent in and complicated by risk society; they are designed to facilitate free trade but at the same time screen out terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, illicit drugs, and undocumented migrants. These risks are insecurities introduced, in part, by processes of modernization and globalization themselves. The article concludes by arguing for a cooperative transnational approach to deal with some of the challenges of maintaining border security in risk society.

Borders and Governance: An Analysis of Health Regulation and the Agri-food Trade

The contemporary dynamics of states, borders, and markets suggest the need for non-traditional methods of regulation and international cooperation in areas such as border inspections and management. The emerging literature on cross-border regions and multi-level governance suggests a framework to understand this development within the general transformation of states under globalisation. To explore these ideas, in this article we focus on the arena of health regulation and the international agricultural and food trade. Multilateral bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) have endorsed the policy concept of “regionalisation” as a means by which states can preserve trade relations when sanitary (human or animal health) or phytosanitary (plant health) hazards threaten a countrys trading status. In this paper, two cases – one historical and one contemporary – illustrate that regionalisation offers a largely functional application of multi-level governance to enhance regulatory and trade capacity. We conclude that governance changes indicated by regionalisation may provide further evidence for the transformation of borders, regions, and states in an era of globalisation. Drs. Ackleson and Kastner direct the Frontier programme for the historical studies of border security, food security, and trade policy – < http://frontier.k-state.edu>.

'Routinizing' Cooperation and Changing Narratives: The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

Abstract March 2005 witnessed the heads of state of Canada, Mexico, and the United States signing the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), a new international framework for cross‐border cooperation in North America. The SPP features two important agendas relevant for the post‐September 11th era: one revolving around national security and the other around economic prosperity. In this paper, we explore how the SPP impacts the dominant narrative of the U.S.‐Canada border. After tracing the historical trajectory of the border, we suggest the emergent narrative eschews the notion that security and trade at the frontier are incompatible and instead maintains that regulatory policies can achieve both through bilateral and trilateral cooperation. The SPP agreement, and related accords such as ‘Smart Borders,’ signals, at least for a time, a new way of perceiving and managing the border. That vision has been recently set back for reasons discussed in this article. This paper analyzes the SPP in several ways based on historical research and interviews conducted with policymakers in Ottawa and Washington, D.C., during 2005. First, we look at the SPP in terms of Milners International Political Economy framework for international cooperation, arguing for the primacy of national domestic interests. Second, we examine the dynamics of cross‐border bilateral cooperation, focusing on ‘routinization’ and bureaucratic policymaking. Finally, we explore how multidisciplinary scholarship may assist us in determining whether the SPP is a model for other border regions.

US Immigration, Demography, and Citizenship in a Digital Age

What role has immigration played in crafting the current demographic fabric of the United States? What will future flows of the foreign-born mean for the future makeup of the country? To what degree are new foreignborn arrivals to the United States becoming citizens, a key indicator of integration? What does citizenship mean for immigrants and the country in the digital age? Answers to these and other related questions are central to understand immigration policy reform in the United States. Blending public-use data from the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this paper presents a snapshot of demographic profiles and trends among the foreign-born (immigrant) population in the United Sates. The paper also examines US naturalization patterns as an indicator of civic integration of the foreign-born and discusses a set of barriers to naturalization within the framework of new scholarship on “digital citizenship.” The paper concludes by exploring several of the key implications of these findings by sketching two divergent potential immigration and citizenship policy pathways.