Cross-Border Resource Management

By Rongxing Guo

Cross-Border Resource Management, Third Edition covers theoretical and analytical issues relating to cross-border resource management. This book holistically explores issues when two entities share a border, such as sovereign countries, dependent states and others, where each seeks to maximize their political and economic interests regardless of impacts on the environment. This new edition has been completely revised to reflect current issues, with new cases from North America and Europe and discussions and issues regarding air and space. Users will find a single resource that explores the many facets of managing and utilizing natural resources when they extend across defined borders.

• Presents a thoroughly updated edition with new cases and coverage on cross-border management
• Contains new content on geopolitical issues, environmental impacts of armed conflicts, dividing and managing shared natural resources, exploitation, competition and depletion of border resources
• Includes new cases from North America and Europe and discussions and issues regarding air and space

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Oct 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9780444640055

Rongxing Guo

Rongxing Guo is Professor (Homepage: www.researchgate.net/profile/Rongxing_Guo; ORCID: 0000-0002-5368-793X), Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China. He has led research projects for the OECD and the World Bank, and undertaken consultation for the Chinese government. An expert who is among the very few scholars to publish in six major disciplines of economics, geography, political science, management science, archaeology, and anthropology, Rongxing Guo has more than 30 years of experience teaching and researching in China, as well as in Australia, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Germany and the US. During the past 20 years or so, he has published more than 30 monographs and many valuable articles. His most recent research works are “Explaining the Human and Cultural Puzzles: A New Development Theory” – whose full text is available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162519302513 -- and “Managing the Unruly Waters: An Imperative for Safety and Resilience along the Yellow River” (draft).

Book preview

Coordinated

Chapter 1

Border, Boundary and Frontier

Concepts

Abstract

Treated as the marginal lines of various political units, borders are either visible or invisible on a landscape: They have extension but no width in most circumstances. Sometimes they are marked only with stone tablets or they may be fortified: for example, the Roman limes against the barbarians to the North, the Magnet Line, the 38th Parallel of Korea, the Great Wall of ancient China and the former Berlin Wall. Stemming from the diversification of political borders, border areas are functionally incorporated by different forms of political status, which will therefore create different operational mechanisms of their own. Still various complicated borders – either natural or artificial – are always trouble-makers. Specifically, boundaries with higher degrees of spatial structure are of particular concern; so are convex and concave boundaries of which enclaves and exclaves are two typical cases.

Keywords

Border; boundary; frontier; artificial barrier; border dimension; convex border; concave border; enclave; exclave

1.1 Some Basic Concepts

1.1.1 Traditional Definitions

In the six dictionaries – Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (WUD), Collins English Dictionary (CED), the American Heritage Dictionary (AHD), Oxford Dictionary (OD), the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (MWUD) and Macmillan Dictionary (MD) – the definitions on the term border or boundary are quite similar to each other. Specifically, a border is defined as:

‘the line that separates one country, state, province, etc., from another’ (WUD, 2013)

‘the dividing line or frontier between political or geographic regions’ (CED, 2009)

‘the line or frontier area separating political divisions or geographic regions’ (AHD, 2009)

‘a line separating two countries, administrative divisions, or other areas’ (OD, 2014)

‘a line separating one country or state from another’ or ‘a boundary between places’ (MWUD, 2014)

‘the official line separating two countries or states’ (MD, 2013).

Obviously, ‘border’ is usually referred to as a line in all these definitions. However, ‘border’ sometimes has been defined as a narrow strip (or district or region) along or near the border between two areas (see, for example, OD, 2014; WUD, 2013). In addition, it is also usually used to define the part or edge of a surface or an area that forms its outer boundary (see, for example, AHD, 2009; MWUD, 2014; WUD, 2013) or the edge or boundary of something, or band or pattern around the edge of something, or the part near it (MD, 2013; OD, 2014). In a few of unusual cases, ‘border’ also refers to as ‘the frontier of civilization’ (WUD, 2013).

In the English language, the word ‘border’ has a sister word ‘boundary’. Both words can be used interchangeably. In addition, there is another similar word ‘frontier’: meaning ‘a border between two countries’ (MWUD, 2014). In Chinese language, ‘border’ (or ‘boundary’) and ‘frontier’ are written as ‘bianjie’ and ‘bianjiang’ in Pinyin forms, respectively. In both Chinese and English languages, ‘border’ has wider meanings in political geography than ‘frontier’ – a term that refers to a special case of border used to denote the sovereign limits of and divisions between independent states. However, this difference may not exist in other languages. For example, in some European languages, only a single word is used to commonly represent the terms ‘border’ and ‘frontier’, such as ‘frontière’ (French), ‘Grenze’ (German), ‘frontera’ (Spanish) and ‘fronteira’ (Portuguese).

1.1.2 An Extended Definition

You might say that you are quite far away from borders and therefore your daily life has nothing to do with borders. Not like that. Throughout your daily life there are various borders. (As a matter of fact, if an interpersonal communication can be defined as a special kind of cross-border relations, when you try to talk to a person, you are crossing a border between you and him or her, even if the border is invisible.)

In this book, I will use a wider definition on the term ‘border’. Specifically, borders can be classified into the following categories:

• Natural

• Institutional (both formal and informal)

• Functional

• Mixed.

Natural borders exist almost everywhere and can be found in both macro- and micro-systems.

Institutions are usually classified into formal and informal institutions. Formal institution is legally introduced and enforced by state forces, which are embedded in state operations based on laws that are enforced and monitored by the government. Informal institution relies on enforcement methods not supported by the government but usually have roots in local communities and are embedded with existing customs, traditions, rules of conduct and beliefs.

Functional borders are very common in the real world. They can be formed between any organizations, sectors or other functional entities or fields.

However, most existing borders belong to the mixed category. For example, both the natural (represented by either border markers or other physical barriers) and the institutional (such as political and legal) components can be found in a single international border.

1.2 A World of Borders

Borders are also diversified in terms of the components that form the borders themselves. There are various methods (or techniques) that neighbouring states can use to describe their political boundaries. And, in practice, more than one of them may be employed on different sectors of a single border line. Cross-border disputes often stem from common errors and intricacies in boundary description. Without clear definitions in specific bilateral (and, if necessary, multilateral) agreements concerning political boundaries, disputes might easily arise.

Technically, most of the international boundaries of the world can be classified into two categories: natural and artificial. Mountains, rivers and other natural barriers have been usually selected to serve as political boundaries. However, these borders sometimes cannot be precisely defined in practice and are usually subject to either the motions of earth’s tectonic plates or climate change (see Chapter 2: Globalization, Natural Resources and Borders for a more detailed analysis in this regard). Under certain conditions, this kind of boundaries could even result in border and territorial disputes (see Chapter 11: Territorial Disputes and Cross-Border Management for a more detailed analysis in this regard).

If there is no natural barrier significant enough to be used as a border, or the natural barrier is not suitable to serve as the border between two adjacent political units, a border line should be established via artificial means. Generally, a border can be either an artificial barrier or a geometrical line. In a few of circumstances, a border may also be invisible.

1.2.1 Artificial Barriers

Stone tablets, walls and wire entanglements are commonly used to act as artificial barriers. These objects are then selected by practitioners to serve as political borders. The former Berlin Wall was one example in kind. The Wall was constructed following the territorial division of post-war Germany by the European Advisory Commission (EAC). The EAC was established by the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), following the defeat of Germany in 1945. Berlin was divided into East and West Berlin under the jurisdiction of the occupying forces during the period of the Cold War. The border wall was finally removed in 1989 following the collapse of the USSR.

One of the greatest construction projects in the world, the Great Wall, or Bianqiang (Chinese: ‘border wall’), was originally built during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC) and the Warring States Period (475–221 BC) in ancient China. Following the unification of the whole nation, Emperor Qinshi-huang (258–210 BC) began to renovate and connect the northern sections of the border walls in order to prevent the invasion from the Hunnish aristocrats (xiongnu) in the north. During the early period of the Ming dynasty (AD 1368–1644), the border wall was rebuilt many times. The latest version of the Wall – 6700 km long – starts at Jiayuguan on the west and ends at Shanhaiguan on the east (Fig. 1.1).

Figure 1.1 The Great Wall of China. Source: Copyright 2013 by Rongxing Guo.

The structure of the Wall is solid and well laid out, good for both attack and defence. At each strategic point there is a fortress constructed for garrison troops. The troops could go outside the wall to patrol, or when the situation required, to outflank the enemy from behind. At some main passes double walls were constructed. The Wall was built in line with the terrain: Where the terrain is flat, the wall is several metres thick and high; where the mountain is steep, the wall is only less than a half metre. On a mild slope between two steep points was cut sharp and stone blocks were laid. At the outer wall of the Great Wall buttresses and loopholes were distributed. In some strategic places three rows of holes were built for soldiers to shoot from three stances: standing, kneeling and prone. Protruding watchtowers were distributed in the wall at a different interval which was dependent on the strategic role. The watchtower is usually 10 m in height, mostly with two stories.

‘Lady Mengjiang’ is a popular Chinese folk tale relating to the Great Wall of China. The story tells the separation of a loving couple and their tragic ending as a result of building the Great Wall during the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC):

Mengjiang’s husband was caught by imperial officials and sent to build the Great Wall. Not hearing from her husband after his departure, Mengjiang sewed warm clothes for him and decided to set off to look for him. Saying farewell to her parents, she packed her luggage and started her long journey. She climbed over mountains and went through the rivers. She walked day and night, slipping and falling many times; finally she reached the eastern end of the Great Wall at the present Shanhaiguan (meaning: ‘mountain-sea pass’). Upon her arrival, bad news came to her, however, that her husband had already died of exhaustion and was buried into the Great Wall! Mengjiang could not help crying. She sat on the ground and cried and cried. Suddenly with a tremendous noise, a 400 kilometer-long (248-mile-long) section of the Great Wall collapsed over her bitter wail. The workmen and supervisors were astonished. Emperor Qin Shihuang happened to be touring the wall at that exact time, and he was enraged and ready to punish the woman…

Between the far eastern edge of the Great Wall that was toppled by Lady Mengjiang and the sea where she is said to have committed suicide, the Temple of Lady Mengjiang was established in later years. It is a tourist attraction today.

1.2.2 Geometrical Lines

Geometric lines have been used to define political borders in places in which there are not appropriate natural barriers. A meridian boundary may be described as a line due north (or south) from a given point, or as the meridian north (south) from one point, or as the meridian of X degrees, Y minutes, Z seconds, west (or east) of Greenwich. A parallel might be described as the parallel of X degrees, Y minutes, Z seconds, north (or south) latitude, or as the parallel east (or west) from a given point. More specifically, geometrical boundaries can be defined via the following approaches:

• By turning points or angles. This method requires detailed surveys and sufficiently accurate field data for the choice of major turning points or angles. The points or angles may be described by latitude and longitude or other coordinates, by bearings to landmarks, or in other precise terms.

• By courses and distances. This method may be suitable for boundaries in water bodies. It is sometimes combined with description by turning points. If this is done, one method should be stated to rule in case of contradiction. The turning point method is superior in that an error affects only two segments. An error in a course of distance affects all subsequent locations.

Most maritime boundaries, including those of territorial waters, exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and continental shelves (see Section 8.2: Defining Maritime Boundaries for more details), are defined as geometrical boundaries. However, in some cases, geometrical boundaries may prove difficult for policymakers to precisely describe. The major difficulties arise from the fact that the earth is neither flat like it in a map nor perfectly spherical like a globe. Geometrical lines on flat maps may have very different properties from lines through corresponding points on the earth. (These differences arise from the projection on a curved surface onto a plane (Jones, 1943, p. 113).) In addition, the most serious challenge to existing maritime boundaries may be that their accuracies are very sensitive to sea level. Along with global warming as well as the sea-level rise that stems from it, various challenges to various cross-border issues will occur accordingly (see Case study 2: Sea-Level Changes and the Borders at the end of Chapter 2 for a more detailed analysis).

The US–Canadian border, which is located along the 49th Parallel of the north latitude, is the world’s longest political border of this kind. The international border between Egypt and Sudan is the 22nd Parallel of the north latitude. Some longitude lines are also used as international borders. Examples include the one between Canada and Alaska/US along the 14th Parallel of the west longitude, the one between Egypt and Libya along the 25th Parallel of the east longitude and the one between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on the 14th Parallel of the east longitude. In addition, the 60°36’th Parallel of the west longitude marks the border between Argentina and Chile on Greande de Tierra del Fuego Island off South America.

1.2.3 Invisible Borders

Sometimes, borders are invisible. A cultural boundary can be defined as one that separates two or more different cultures in contiguous geographic spaces. Precisely, each culture possesses a common system of signifying and normative values, some shared bases (such as common history, language, race or ethnicity and religion) through which people identify themselves as members of a single group, and the will or decision to be primarily self-identified as members of a given community. However, the boundaries between culture areas are not necessarily distinct; recognizable cultures within a given area may contrast with those of neighbouring ones. If the boundaries are not sharply delineated, zones of composite culture or blended traits may make the transition from one to another a matter of gradation.

It should be noted that a demarcation commission sometimes would feel constrained to fix boundaries since some human features are too fuzzy to be identified. The disintegration of the former USSR, and the political and cultural tensions between Russia and Ukraine that have followed, have caused political and cultural tensions there, especially in their cross-border territory. Within Slobozhanskaya, Ukraine, and the component part of Kharkov region, ethnic diversity has created disputes between peoples. The region is known by various geographical names in the contiguous regions, by types of relief, names of human settlements and rural areas. The most contentious issue is that of language. No agreement can be found over which language should be spoken and used in secondary and tertiary education, in curriculum development and for entrance examinations at higher education.

Until 40 years ago, and as a result of Pillarization (Verzuiling in Dutch) – a widespread politico-denominational segregation, Catholic and protestant establishments in the Netherlands had been separated from each other. Churches, supermarkets and other public places were segregated by religious and political beliefs. One striking example, below, tells a story about a Catholic woman and her Protestant husband in a small town in the Netherlands, who were not allowed to be buried together (Fig. 1.2):

All of this [Pillarization] sets the scene to the story of Protestant Colonel J.C.P.H van Aeffderson and Catholic noblewoman J.W.C van Gorkum. Their marriage would have caused a storm of scandal back in the 19th century. Not only was it religiously mixed, but they were from two very different social classes. However, despite all of the taboo in 19th century society, the couple’s marriage lasted for 40 years, only ending with the colonel’s death. Eight years later, when his wife passed away, her wishes dictated that she wanted to be buried next to her husband. Pillarization was still in effect at the time, and according to the law, this was impossible. However, with a little creative stonework, both Husband and wife were linked eternally together in a different way.

Cited from Hong (2013)

Figure 1.2 Graves of a Catholic woman and her protestant husband in Het Oude Kerkhof, Roermond, the Netherlands. Source: Courtesy of Frank Janssen.

Israelis and Palestinians share a narrow territory along the eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Cultural and religious conflicts between the two different groups of peoples have not stopped since the founding of the state of Israel in the late 1940s. Even though a common geographical boundary may be settled in the future, cultural separation between the two neighbours appears eternal.

By way of contrast to these examples of internal strife and dissent, there is another landscape in the heart of west Europe where one may find a special Alpine country. In Switzerland different language groups live peacefully in cantons allocated to speakers of Swiss German, French, Italian and Rhaeto-Romanic.

1.3 Borders: Political Hierarchy

When two independent states, regions, communities, cultures or even firms meet together, a common border will be automatically formed. In general, borders can be classified into different levels, including first-class (or independent state) borders, second-class (or dependent state, or provincial) borders, third-class (or municipality, or county) borders and so on.

1.3.1 Independent-Country Level

A government usually refers to as a system by which to control or manage a state or community. In the commonwealth of states, the word government is also used more narrowly to refer to the collective group of people that exercises executive authority in a state (Bealey, 1999, p. 147). This usage is analogous to what is called an ‘administration’ in some circumstances.

Independent countries are the highest form of political units in the world. An independent country must have a defined geographical scope (territory). At present, the independent countries of the world have territorially varied from as small as 0.5 km² (i.e., that of the Vatican City) to as large as 17 million km² (i.e., that of the Russian Federation). An independent country must also have a certain number of citizens within the territory it controls. As one of the most populous countries in the world, China has already a population of about 1.4 billion, whereas Nauru – also an independent country – only has a population of about 10,000.

Independent countries are also diversified organizationally. The existing independent countries of the world can be divided into at least more than a dozen of categories of political status in the forms of governments and ruling powers, including:

• Republic

• Constitutional monarchy

• Parliamentary state

• Provisional military government

• Socialist republic

• Federal republic

• Monarchy

• Federal parliamentary state

• Islamic republic

• Transitional military republic

• Federal Islamic republic

• Transitional government

• Federal constitutional monarchy

• Federation of monarchy

• Monarchical–sacerdotal state

• Constitutional monarchy under military rule.

1.3.2 Internally Independent Political-Entity Level

Also known as quasi-independent political entities, internally independent political entities are under the protection of other independent political entities in matter of defence and/or foreign affairs. They are, however, independent in the matter of internal affairs. For example, Andorra is a coprincipality under the joint protection of Spain and France; Bhutan is a monarchy under Indian protection; the Cook Islands is a self-governing territory under the protection of New Zealand; and Greenland is a self-governing territory under the Danish protection.

Hong Kong is also an example of an internally independent entity. Under the ‘Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China’, Hong Kong became a SAR of China in 1997. The Basic Law was drafted in accordance with the Sino–British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, signed between the Chinese and British governments on 19 December 1984. The Basic Law stipulates the basic policies of China towards the Hong Kong SAR. In accordance with the Joint Declaration and the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle that China has granted, socialism as practised in the PRC is not adopted to Hong Kong. Instead, the Hong Kong SAR continues its previous capitalist system and way of life for a period of 50 years (from 1997 to 2046). In addition, a number of freedoms and rights of the Hong Kong residents are also protected under the Basic Law.

1.3.3 Dependent Political-Entity Level

These political units are generally regarded as the territories that are fully or partially subject to their respective mother states. For example, American Samoa, Guam, the Midway Islands and the Virgin Islands are the unincorporated territories of the United States; the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the British Indian Ocean Territory, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn (including its dependencies), St. Helena (including its dependencies), South Georgia (including its dependencies), Turksand Caicos Islands and Virgin Islands are dependent territories of the United Kingdom.

Within independent political units, there usually exist various forms of administrative subdivisions, which can also be called dependent political units. Specifically, administrative subdivisions directly under the central government of a country can be divided into: first-class administrative units, or called province or dependent state; second-class administrative subdivisions directly under the first-class administrative divisions are usually called municipality, county and so on.

Table 1.1 gives some facts on the first-class administrative divisions for selected countries.

Table 1.1

The First-Class Administrative Regions, Selected Countries

AR, autonomous region; ARP, autonomous republic; CT, capital territory; DC, district of Colombia; FR, frontier region; M, municipality directly under the central government; P, province; S, state; SAR, special administrative region; T, territory.

Calculation by the author based on the maps of relevant countries.

1.3.4 Other Political-Unit Levels

There are still many other borders in the world. A neighbourhood, probably the lowest level of legal or economic unit of the world, is a delineated area within physical boundaries where people identify their home and where they live out and organize their private lives. Neighbourhoods also have a strong social component. People connect with their neighbours in many ways – security, cleanliness, the environment, social behaviour, networks and conditions, access to basic services such as schools, doctors, transport and shops (Power, 2004). Since there are both physical and psychological barriers between neighbourhoods, the boundaries of neighbourhoods are often clear.

1.4 Borders: Dimension and Structure

1.4.1 Spatial Dimension

If the entities varying in number meet together, borders differing in spatial structure (or border dimension, that is, the number of borders) will be formed. In brief, most political borders with different spatial dimensions are as the following:

• 2-d border. Borders of this kind encompass the majority of borders around the world, including the US–Mexican that runs for 3220 km from East to West and the military demarcation line that divides North and South Korea around the 38th