If These Walls Could Talk
The strange history of our futile border fortifications

http://harpers.org/archive/2018/03/if-these-walls-could-talk/
Publisher:  Harper's Magazine
Year Published:  2018
Resource Type:  Article

From ancient times to the present day, the article takes a look at the reasoning behind physical barriers that society's construct to divide nations, and the historical fact that they usually fail.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

According to one Norse myth, the gods needed a wall. Asgard, their kingdom, had once been surrounded by barricades, but a war had destroyed them. When the gods decided to erect a new wall, a builder appeared out of nowhere and offered his services. Loki, the trickster, suggested that the gods accept his proposal but set an impossible deadline. When time ran out, they could send him on his way, thereby getting the lion's share of the wall for free.