Special Topics on Borders
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A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.
—John le CarréI often speak on borders as systems increasing in scale, reach, and layered high-tech networks. One of the most fundamental large-scale systems people will encounter makes explicit the concept of flow, power, and control.
We can go a few different directions with this topic as a starting point, which is why it’s so valuable.
Extrapolating forward into the future prompts reflection on how these systems shape family wellbeing, decision making, privacy, logistics, who’s good and who’s bad, worldview, futures, sudden change, new surveillance tech, planetary migration, ethics, and more.
My presentations are not journalistic, and though they are positional, they are not solely political. Instead, they help individual audience members to place themselves within complex systems, prompting surprise, awareness, and personal meaning.
My presentations for 2025 incorporate the above with a more ambitious emphasis on virtual worlds, media, and ethics.
These talks are never boring! Audiences may have either minimal engagement with border issues, or deep involvement. Past audiences and hosts have included International Leadership Association, APF Latin America, Leadership Big Bend, decision-makers in U.S., Mexican, and Canadian government agencies; law enforcement, faith groups, academia, agriculture, business, and community services.
Delivering in-person presentations in English will be very welcome in Tokyo, Cairo, Houston, and Vancouver or Vancouver Island through 2025. Online always welcome.
Add me to your program or media
Find me at The Association of Borderlands Studies
Find me at The Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies
Thumbnail Image: Plan for the city of Babylon, Herodotus and Kirchner.