The Covid-19 pandemic has shattered the myth of a borderless Europe

The removal of border-checks and travel restrictions between EU states has been one of the most striking features of European integration. Yet as Jaume Castan Pinos and Steven M. Radil write, European governments quickly adopted tighter border controls as they sought to halt the spread of Covid-19. They argue that while national borders were once thought to be a feature of Europe’s past, the pandemic has underlined just how resilient and meaningful they continue to be

Kampen mod Irlands deling: fra syd til nord til brexit

Artiklen undersøger modstanden mod delingen af Irland, fra dens implementering til en nutid domineret af usikkerhed omkring udgangen af brexit. Argumentet er, at modstanden mod deling har været en konstant på øen igennem et helt århundrede til trods for forskellige metoder – konstitutionelle såvel som voldelige – og forskellige intensiteter. Delingen af Irland i to forskellige politiske enheder har ikke blot været grund til, at tusinder af mænd og kvinder har båret våben og deltaget i en voldelig kamp. Delingen har også været fundamentet for den væsentligste ideologi i både Nordirland og den irske republik i et århundrede, nemlig den irske republikanisme. Langfredagsaftalen neddroslede måske suverænitetsdebatten i en tid, men brexit har bragt den på banen igen og givet politisk momentum til de, som ikke ønsker deling. Irsk republikanisme kan således instrumentalisere den politiske krise, der udspiller sig i kølvandet på et brexit og endnu en gang presse på for at opnå et forenet Irland

Identity Challenges Affecting the Spanish Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

This article will examine the border and identity challenges for the Spanish (semi)enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which are surrounded by the Moroccan state. This issue is obviously related to the study of territorial boundaries and more specifically to the EU's relationship with the underdeveloped economic sphere to its south. Indeed, Ceuta and Melilla highlight the double standards of the EU, which was founded to build bridges across borders but at the same time has built barriers (in Ceuta and Melilla actual physical barriers) at its southern border which have underpinned the idea of fortress Europe. Thus, the anomalous geographical location of both Spanish cities exposes them to border and identity challenges as well as to a complex situation of interdependent concentric circles which involves the enclaves (first circle), Spain, Morocco (second circle) and the EU (third circle). The aim of this article is to analyse the three concentric circles, paying special attention to the implications of having African enclaves for an EU state. Finally, the article scrutinises the importance of symbolism and its pivotal role in creating lines of division and political conflict at the local and national level

Building fortress Europe? : Schengen and the Spanish North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The conflict over Irish partition: From south to north to Brexit

This article analyses the opposition to Irish partition from its very inception to the contemporary context, dominated by Brexit-fuelled uncertainty. The article claims that while hostility to partition has experienced different methods –namely constitutional as well as violent means– and diverse degrees of intensity, there is a historical continuum of struggle against partition in Ireland. The division of Ireland into two separate polities has not just brought thousands of men and women to take up arms over the past century, it has also been the glue that has arguably fuelled the most important ideology in Ireland (both north and south); Irish republicanism. While the sovereignty debate was decisively eroded by the Good Friday Agreement, Brexit has unearthed such debate thus giving political momentum to those who decry partition. Irish Republicans, the article concludes, have gained ground to instrumentalise the political crisis generated by Brexit in order to push for their “united Ireland” aspirations