[back turned mexico wall]Jorge Duenes/Reuters With the race for the White House tightening, according to the latest polls, Donald J. Trump's call for a 2000-mile long wall along the U.S.-Mexico border remains very much an issue. Whether it would halt the flow of refugees, and drugs, even if built remains questionable, as extensive tunneling under the present barrier has shown one of several weaknesses in the plan. But there's a tendency, in any case, to treat the Trump demand as an aberration in today's world. Yes, the massive concrete barrier Israel has built along and inside the West Bank beginning in 2002 has drawn wide attention. It is now nearly three times as long, and in some places twice as high, as the late, unlamented Berlin Wall, and complete with its own checkpoints, guard towers and death strips to deter Palestinians bent on passage or revenge. But while this may be the most famous political wall today it is far from the only one. In fact, walls, fencing and other strong barriers, are going up all over the world. Last year, around the globe, and driven by new and ancient fears, work began on more barriers than at any point in known history, the Washington Post reported last month in a three-part, text plus video, package. They counted 63 border barriers across four continents. Reuters last week counted even more in reporting: "In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there were only 15 border walls around the world. Today, there are 70 of them." [wall]Jorge Duenes/ReutersAnd this is in the era of "globalization." Reece Jones, who has researched border barriers for more than a decade and written a book titled Violent Borders, has declared that more than 40,000 people have died trying to cross international borders in the past decade. And walls, he claims, rarely deter refugees, as they simply surmount, or find a way to go around, them. Jones points out, "We may live in an era of globalization, but much of the world is increasingly focused on limiting the free movement of people." Nothing quite matches the trauma, and endurance, of the Berlin Wall (1961-1989), which I explore in my book, "The Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill." But it's worth examining some of the brutal barriers that exist today. Most of the new walls are within the European Union. "Facing an influx of more than 3,000 people a day, Hungary built a 109-mile barrier along its border with Croatia," the Washington Post reports. "The fences resulted in a huge drop in arrivals to Hungary, but they did not stop migration. Many migrants simply shifted routes and entered neighboring nations. Soon, other countries began to build fences of their own..." "In Greece, the newly closed border with Macedonia left thousands stranded in miserable camps, stopped by barbed wire and armed guards. Frustration mounted, erupting in clashes such as one on April 10 between stranded migrants and the Macedonian military. As migrants rushed the border fence, the Macedonians responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, resulting in dozens of injuries, including to children." [greece macedonia]Jorge Duenes/ReutersAnd the Post warns: "Some in Europe are now asking whether the new walls are enough. To prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel, Britain is funding construction of a wall in Calais, France." Austria is even threatening to erect a barrier along its border with Italy in the Alps to stem the tide of migrants from Africa. But walls are also going up in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Turkey is building a concrete wall on its southern border with Syria. Tunisia is erecting a desert barrier with Libya to insulate itself from the Islamic State-led insurgency there. Bangladesh is being encircled by hundreds of miles of wire, courtesy of India and Burma, who wish to block migrants, fearing religious extremism. "This new age of barriers is not just about chain links and concrete. It also reflects the rise of populist politicians," the Washington Post concludes. "The effectiveness of their nationalist rhetoric suggests that even as globalization was working its magic on trade, mobility and investment, a seditious resentment was brewing among those left behind." _Greg Mitchell has written ten books. The latest just published: "The Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill" (Crown)._ NOW WATCH: What would happen if the presidential election ended up in a tie
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