Book Presentation: The Closing of the American Border

Edward Alden, Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

November 20, 2008

8:00 - 9:30 a.m.
Location: UC San Diego Faculty Club
Open to: Students, Public, Alumni

Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, will present a breakfast talk about his book The Closing of the American Border on Thursday, November 20 from 8 – 9:30 a.m. at the UC San Diego Faculty Club. This event is co-sponsored by The Center on Pacific Economies, The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Alden’s is the first book to examine in depth the consequences of the U.S. War on Terror on the U.S. Border Patrol. In his book, Alden examines how the War on Terror recast the mission of the Border Patrol from managing illegal immigration to preventing terrorist attacks, and how this reassignment led to inefficiencies and counter-productivity in immigration. Through interviews with members of the Bush Administration and with the people whose lives have been affected by the new border security and visa rules, Alden examines those unintended consequences.

Edward Alden is the Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), specializing in U.S. competitiveness. His expertise includes U.S. immigration and visa policies, U.S. trade policy, and the impact of homeland security policies on U.S. economic competitiveness. Mr. Alden is the author of the recent book The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration and Security Since 9/11 (HarperCollins), and he is currently directing CFR’s Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy.

Before joining CFR, Mr. Alden was the Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times, writing on U.S. economic issues, trade policy, and homeland security. He was previously the Canadian bureau chief for the Financial Times based in Toronto, a senior reporter with the Vancouver Sun specializing in labor and employment issues, and was the managing editor of the newsletter Inside US Trade, widely recognized as the leading source of reporting on U.S. trade policies. He has won several national and international awards for his reporting.

Mr. Alden holds a Master’s degree in international relations from the University of California, Berkeley, and pursued doctoral studies before returning to a journalism career. He also has a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of British Columbia. He was the winner of numerous academic awards, including a Mellon fellowship in the humanities and a MacArthur Foundation graduate fellowship.

Please click here for the event flyer.