ABSTRACT
The characteristics of both the Eastern and Western border regimes changed several times during the 19th and 20th centuries, at times approximating one another, at times drifting further apart. The Western model is permissive under the given circumstances, whereas the Eastern model is always restrictive in nature. States adopting the Western model are open societies whose interests lie in maintaining open borders, at least for their own citizens, whose foreign travels or even migrations are not limited. Restrictions on domestic movement may result in prohibitions on the free choice of employment and residence. The societies that so emerge are closed and of an authoritarian or dictatorial nature. The geographical border between the Eastern and Western border regimes creates a unique contact zone that has the ability to adapt both to the Western and to the Eastern systems.
