The Concept of Border from Critical Geopolitical Perspective: An Analysis of the US-Mexico Border during Donald Trump Period

Abstract

The world is divided into different geographical spaces, but some territories have symbolic meanings beyond their geographical location. These meanings reflect certain power relations and the relationship between knowledge and power. Contrary to the ‘borderless world’ discourse that came with the globalization and collapsed with the September 11 attack and COVID-19 pandemic, borders and border walls have become a field of study that requires multifaceted analysis as subjects that are politicized, instrumentalized and institutionalized beyond their physical existence. In this thesis, the historical process of how the border (wall) has become a geopolitical territory and its politicization through power relations and discourses will be evaluated within the framework of the critical geopolitics. In this context, the US-Mexican border is chosen as a case study. Within the limits of the study, the discourses of the 45th US President Donald Trump, based on marginalizing, discriminatory, and racist identity politics towards Mexican immigrants in his speeches and tweets, will be examined through a practical geopolitical approach, and in this context, how the border (wall) has become a geopolitical territory will be presented.