ABSTRACT
International borders are fascinating, diverse, controversial, intensely complex and important. When viewed on a map, they are the easily identifiable boundary lines that divide one country from another. Reality, however, is a lot more clumsy and complicated. In many cases, borders are artificial lines that bear little or no relation to society and politics on the ground. The post-Cold War conflict in the former Yugoslavia attests to the fact that national borders are not naturally established, uncontested or permanent.
