The numbers are clear: In 2015, work started on more new barriers around the world than at any other point in modern history. There are now 63 borders where walls or fences separate neighboring countries.

63 60 50 40 Total number of borders with barriers, by year: 30 20 10 0 1945 1989 2001 2016 The number of barriers increased modestly after World War II until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After Sept. 11, 2001, barrier-building spiked. 63 60 50 Total number of borders with barriers, by year: 40 30 20 10 0 ’45 ’89 ’01 ’16 The number of barriers increased modestly after World War II until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After Sept. 11, 2001, barrier-building spiked. 63 60 50 40 Total number of borders with barriers, by year: 30 20 10 0 1945 1989 2001 2016 The number of barriers increased modestly after World War II until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After Sept. 11, 2001, barriers spiked.

In many ways, the barrier-building is being driven by fear.

Most of the new walls are being erected within the European Union, which until recently was nearly borderless. Britain is going further, rolling up its bridges to the continent by voting to exit the E.U. Intended to counter migrants and terrorist attacks, these moves are not limited to Europe. In the Middle East, Tunisia is erecting a desert barrier with lawless Libya to insulate itself from unrest and an Islamic State-led insurgency.

In Asia, India and Burma are encircling Bangladesh with hundreds of miles of razor wire to block migrants and counter religious extremism.

Today, barriers on these 63 borders divide nations across four continents.

In the Americas and Europe Each yellow line represents a border barrier U.S. U.K. NORWAY AUSTRIA LATVIA MEXICO RUSSIA GUATEMALA SLOVENIA UKRAINE HUNG. CRO. ROM. MOLD. SERBIA MACEDONIA BULGARIA GREECE TURKEY CYPRUS In Asia SOUTH KOREA KAZAK. KYRGYZ. NORTH KOREA TURKM. UZBEKISTAN HONG KONG AFGHANISTAN CHINA TURKEY IRAN PAKISTAN MACAO INDIA BURMA BANGLADESH THAILAND MALAYSIA BRUNEI In Africa and The Middle East SPAIN TUNISIA LEBANON SYRIA MOROC. LIBYA ISRAEL JORDAN EGYPT ALG. WEST. SAHARA WEST BANK GAZA KUWAIT IRAQ ANGOLA NAMIBIA KENIA SOMALIA UAE S.ARABIA BOTSWANA ZIMBAB. MOZAM. OMAN S. AFRICA YEMEN In the Americas and Europe. Each yellow line represents a border barrier. U.S. U.K. NORWAY AUSTRIA LATVIA MEXICO RUSSIA In Asia. GUATEMALA SLOVENIA UKRAINE SOUTH KOREA HUNG. CRO. ROM. MOLD. NORTH KOREA KAZAK. KYRGYZ. SERBIA HONG KONG TURKM. UZBEKISTAN MACEDONIA BULGARIA CHINA GREECE TURKEY MACAO AFGHANISTAN CYPRUS INDIA TURKEY IRAN PAKISTAN BURMA SPAIN TUNISIA LEBANON SYRIA BANGLADESH MOROC. LIBYA ISRAEL JORDAN THAILAND EGYPT ALG. WEST. SAHARA WEST BANK MALAYSIA BRUNEI GAZA KUWAIT In Africa. IRAQ ANGOLA NAMIBIA KENIA SOMALIA UAE S.ARABIA BOTSWANA ZIMBAB. MOZAM. OMAN S. AFRICA YEMEN

Note: Graphics include non-mobile barriers designed to seal a border that have fixed masonry or concrete foundations. Source: Elisabeth Vallet, Zoe Barry and Josselyn Guillarmou (Raoul Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies - University of Quebec at Montreal).

This new age of barriers is not just about chain links and concrete. It also reflects the rise of populist politicians. The effectiveness of their nationalist rhetoric suggests that even as globalization was working its magic on trade, mobility and investment, a seditious resentment was brewing among those left behind.