Trump’s UN speech and Germany’s election show borders are back

In 1985, five European states signed the Schengen Agreement, abolishing border checks between them. In 1996, John Perry Barlow wrote his Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, addressed to the “governments of the industrial world”. He told them: “Cyberspace does not lie within your borders.”

“As president of the United States,” he said, “I will always put America first, just like you, as the leaders of your countries, will always, and should always, put your countries first.” Trump’s assertion was one of the few lines in the speech that won applause.

The world is not in a globalist mood. Brexit is about reasserting sovereignty, above all over immigration. Angela Merkel has been re-elected German chancellor, but her party’s share of the vote reduced, mainly because of Germany’s borders. Trump clings to his election promise to build a wall along the US-Mexican border and exclude citizens of mainly Muslim countries associated with terrorism. European elites sneer, but polls show majorities of their citizens would support a similar ban on Muslim immigration.

Yet when you reflect on borders, you see how strange the world is. Ninety-five per cent of all people live in fewer than 90 countries. Yet the United Nations has 193 members. Among its most recent recruits are East Timor (1.3 million) and Montenegro (629,000).

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