United by Lines on the Map, Not Divided
This article was originally written on 8 October 2009 and published on blog.luxzenburg.org. It is republished here as a historical document and reflects the author’s ideas at the time of writing. OpenDemocracy, an open-source knowledge network and think tank on international politics, publishes a compelling essay on borders by Parag Khanna. He gives a tour d’horizon of geopolitics, seen through the lens of infrastructural connections. A fascinating picture, with many maps. It raises a question for me: what do we make of this, and what does it mean for us? Can we create a world in which we are united by lines on maps — infrastructure, trade, connection — rather than divided by other lines: borders? ...