#27 BIG Podcast - “Nation State Model and Creative Solutions for Border Problems” - With: Nick Megoran – Political Geographer at Newcastle University, England

The Nation-State model is built on the synchronization between a so-called state territory and a so-called national population. The mechanical imposition of this specific model has led to serious conflicts in certain parts of the world. What are the consequences of this model on the design of the country's borders? How to organize borderlands while avoiding conflicts with neighbors? With Nick Megoran, this podcast (in 2 parts) is an opportunity to talk about several original practices such as condominiums, joint development zones, territorial leasing, enclaves, the exchange of territory, statutory autonomy, free and customs zones, law of neighborliness, mobile borders, decoupling of international borders from other functional or administrative limits, juridical, fiscal and economic cross-border cooperation. So many illustrations that allow us to think differently about sovereignty and state borders. Transboundary Cooperation transcend the Border Nation State System. Sovereignty doesn’t have to be Zero-Sum.

Websites:

BIG Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://biglobalization.org  ⁠⁠⁠⁠

JMN Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.uvic.ca/humanities/intd/europe/eu-grants/network/hmsdata-20-23/index.php⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/2AL0HbO⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/BordersInGlobalization⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/big_uvic ⁠⁠

Time Markers:

00:00 Cross-border cooperation legal tools (Ex: Local Cross-border Cooperation Group (GLCT) of The Greater Geneva ; European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) of “Cerdagne Hospital”)

04:12 Cross-border tax cooperation between Geneva/France; Economic Co-Development of the Columbia River between Canada/USA

07:33 Luxembourg, Cross-Border Workers, Teleworking, Fiscal Challenges and Legal Solutions

09:03 Cross-Coordination for Whom?

13:40 Law of neighborliness and 4 fundamental rules for contiguous States

16:03 Examples of “Quinto Real”, “Mundat forest”, and the “free zones of Pays de Gex and Haute-Savoie”

23:28 Mobile Watershed lines on the Mountains and Mobile Borders in the Rivers

26:10 Transboundary Cooperation transcend the Border Nation State System

28:12 Added Value of Political Geography for Border Studies