Do Good Fences Actually Make Good Neighbors? The number of border walls worldwide has surged since the end of the Cold War

India has announced plans to build a 1,600-kilometer border fence along its frontier with Myanmar, sparking concern among local communities and regional observers. The initiative, aimed at curbing smuggling, illegal migration, and insurgent activity, is part of a broader global trend of increasing border fortifications.

However, critics argue that the fence could severely disrupt the lives of people living in border regions, where cross-border movement is part of everyday life. Communities have long maintained close ties across the border, and many fear the fence will sever these connections.

Local residents say the fence threatens not only cultural and social bonds but also economic survival. Small-scale traders and farmers who rely on informal cross-border commerce may be pushed out.

Meanwhile, larger smuggling networks could adapt and thrive. Corruption and complicity among local state actors, rather than simple porosity, drive much of the illicit economy at the border. Research shows that border walls often decrease formal trade and undermine local economies, while simultaneously consolidating power among well-funded actors.

Based on firsthand interviews and field data collected from smugglers, traders, security forces, and residents along the border, the article argues that fences mainly reconfigure power and economic relationships, privileging well-connected actors and hurting small-scale and informal borderlanders.