Ruling the Savage Periphery: Frontier Governance and the Making of the Modern State

Associate Professor of History Benjamin Hopkins makes a provocative case that “failed states” along the periphery of today’s international system are the intended result of 19th-century colonial design. From the Afghan frontier to the pampas of Argentina, colonial empires drew borders with an eye toward placing indigenous people just close enough to take advantage of, with lasting ramifications for the global nation-state.