The Eur-Asian Border Lab’s Policy Papers and Briefs present rigorous, practice-grounded insights into how borders shape political, economic, social, and technological life across Eurasia and beyond. Borders emerge here not simply as territorial markers, but as infrastructures of power, negotiation, and contestation that affect communities, governance, and regional stability.

Through these publications, we bring together scholarship, field-based knowledge, and policy analysis to inform debates that reach beyond the academy. Each paper engages with pressing issues, from trade regimes and digital infrastructures to security practices and local forms of resilience, offering perspectives that help policymakers, practitioners, and scholars navigate the complexities of border governance in a rapidly changing world.

Beyond the bottom line: Understanding tariffs through a border studies lens

Policy paper. August 29
This paper examines tariffs not only as economic tools but as bordering practices that shape sovereignty, identity, and political relations. Drawing on global trade disputes, it highlights the symbolic and cultural consequences of tariffs beyond fiscal outcomes.

Codifying crisis: A border studies perspective on the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum

Policy paper. October 30
This Eur-Asian Border Lab policy paper interprets the Pact through a border studies lens, revealing how it codifies practices first introduced during crisis moments – rapid screening, containment zones, and probabilistic filtering – into the permanent architecture of EU border governance.

(More entries to be added as new publications are released.)