Analysis of border walls in the context of poststructuralism: The case of the US-Mexico border wall

The ''Border Walls,'' which were identified with the metaphors of separation, prohibition, and division during the Cold War period, were shaped as the remains of the past or structures that would not reappear in the consciousness of the international community with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the end of the bloc system, and the acceleration of globalization. However, optimistic assumptions about walls have not aligned with the reality of international politics, and the number of border walls being built worldwide has steadily increased over the past three decades. The main point of departure of this thesis was to examine the increasing number of walls on a global scale, their expanding geographical scope and areas of use, and how they are instrumentally integrated into political discourses within the discipline of international relations from a poststructuralist framework. This thesis sought to explain how the construction of border walls involves more complex relationships than the reasons put forward by states, and that it means significantly more than a wall in the ontological sense. From this perspective, by considering the examplary walls built in different parts of the world and different time periods, the relations formed by these walls were examined separately and jointly, and it was argued that the border walls were not only a physical wall but also the product of a much more complex and comprehensive wall policy. The information and findings obtained through the example walls were applied to and analyzed practically for the US-Mexico border wall, which has become a popular current example, especially given Donald Trump's candidacy fort he US presidency.