What are some political walls that have been built since the dawn of human history?

The great wall of China did. Still does!
The Mongol invaders haven’t gotten into China for a while now…

Hadrian’s wall did it’s job for a while.

The US wall on the border with Mexico

The wall on the border w/ Mexico isn’t a complete wall….so I don’t think I would put it in the same category as some of the others mentioned…...

The countless medieval walled cities would certainly qualify. The political units were just smaller then. In several cases they did fulfill their purpose and were never breached, despite several attempts.

But I’m a confirmed wall skeptic, like Frost.

Pink Floyd’s Wall.

Of course it came tumbling down in the end.

The wall that Humpty Dumpty sat on didn’t do much for him either. :-)

I’m going to teach a class on Frost this Spring and am studying “Mending Wall” so this is an interesting thread for me. (I love the poem.) Another take on the question: are there any cases in history where both sides of the fence wanted it built or were they always built to exclude “the other”?

There is a place in Israel that is on the border with Lebanon and is or was called the “Good Gate”. Anyone know if it is still there? Also, in Israel, there are the security fences built to exclude Palestinians from access to Israel.

Do “Good fences make good neighbors”? I suspect not if they are imposed by one side on the other.

When I was in Israel I was fascinated to learn about the wall around old Jerusalem. The gates had an immediate right hand turn so if you were an invader you would have to strike with your left hand. The city was also not set up on a neat grid like a lot of us streets. That was so if invaders DID get in they would have to be very familiar with the city not to get lost and confused.

@Snoopy: he just asked about political walls, and the border wall certainly fits that description. If a wall has to be complete, then the Chinese Wall doesn’t count, because it it also was not continuous.

The Great Hedge of India.

@kevbo Hmm…I’d never heard of that.

Yeah, it’s wacky, isn’t it? Very British. I heard about it on NPR once, I think.

@kevbo ahh yes, we are wacky. But fudging ingenious.

@daloon I mentioned what I put in the thread only to add to the conversation….i.e. that if the idea of a wall is to keep people out or in, then a wall that is incomplete is unlikely to be as effective….

My post wasn’t directed at you or Tali (she mentioned the border w/ Mexico in her question) or trying to imply that it was correctly or incorrectly listed.

….just that there are different kinds of walls….

@cage
actually im pretty sure the mongols weren’t stoped by the great wall of china

@LKidKyle1985—if you follow my link, you’ll find that to be the case.

@Snoopy: well, it seems to me that these political walls, are designed more to satisfy the people that something is being done, than to actually accomplish the goal. I hope Obama can tear down the wall. It is a very stupid thing, although not the most stupid thing that Bush did.

Actually now that I think about it, the demilitarized zone between north and south korea has so far been successful in its goals of dividing the country in two. It also has helped avoid other conflicts thus far.

@LKidKyle1985 well, wha’d’ya know. I guess you learn something new everyday.
It seems it reducing effective invasions by a dramatic amount though.
And I am right in saying they haven’t invaded for a while :P

Sometimes walls are like the “forbidden fruit.” Their effect is only to say “I dare ya!” Better bariers to harm tend to be diplomacy and inclusion.

Hadrian’s wall protected the Scottish from the Romans. It was never torn down and it is still there today. Also, oceans have separated rival civilizations and prevented many wars.

@janbb Permit me to quibble just a tiny bit. While parts of the “Security Barrier” in Israel are fairly described as “fences,” in urban areas, such as Jerusalem, the barrier is most assuredly a wall. It snakes through and around Jerusalem and is made of, in places, thirty foot high slabs of concrete. That’s a wall if I’ve ever seen one, not a fence.

As for the Israeli security barrier wall/fence’s usefulness: it depends on what you think its aims were. If the goal of the barrier was to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from getting into Israel-proper, then I think you’d have to say the barrier has been successful. If, however, the goal was to produce some sort of lasting “peace-ish” situation with the Palestinians, I think we can say pretty easily that it has failed.

@Mtl_zack I think it’s the other way around. Hadrian’s wall was built by the Roman empire to protect its northern territory on the British isle from invasions by Scots. As you say, worked pretty well.

You’re both wrong. The Picts occupied what is now Scotland. The Scots weren’t around until later.

@Michael: I think Mtl_zack was making a funny.

Although, his point is still valid. I may make a wall to protect me from a neighbor, and my neighbor may find it a really good protection from me.

Fair enough!

ummm, I don’t think I was joking. I must have just misread my textbook in classics class. Anyways, I’ll take the credit.

@Mtl_zack: you are way too honest. Just pretend you were making a joke, and everyone will think you are terribly clever.

In fact, it has ruined my day to find out you are less clever than you seem. Please do something to restore my esteem for you.

[oops. How embarrassing. Sorry about that.]

There was a man who entered a local paper’s pun contest. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one of the puns would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

<<rimshot>>

Belfast (sort of)