Bad Neighbors, Better Fences

The Great Wall of China, the mother of barriers, isn't holding up so well. Rapacious builders are swiping its venerable stones for apartment complexes and pigsties, historians question the tale of its creation and China's pioneer astronaut Yang Liwei declared on his return to earth last year that he couldn't see it from space. But around the world, countries are building similar structures to foil the modern version of barbariansterroristsor simply would-be immigrants.

Israel's ongoing construction of a 700-km security barrier in the West Banka $1.4 billion combination of ditches, towers, concrete walls and barbed-wire fenceshas sparked an...

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