The WTA is one of the most far-reaching tours, and its success has stemmed from aggressive expansion across borders.
Paradoxically, one explanation for this state of affairs is the rapid expansion of border forces following the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
Mario Villarreal, a Border Patrol spokesman in Washington, said the inflated smuggling fees were the result of the increased difficulty of crossing the Rio Grande after a huge expansion of border agents in the 1990's.
While critics and privacy advocates fear expansion of border authorities under President Trump, it's worth noting that this particular policy actually has its roots in the Obama administration.
Russia, if it is called on, has a clear set of grievances over NATO expansion toward its borders and criticism of its military campaign in Chechnya.
In 1998 Russia strongly opposed the first wave of expansion toward its borders with the inclusion of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
"Ultimately all these settlements — their presence, their expansion, their expanded borders and so on — they're all illegal, and we don't recognize their legitimacy," she said.
A celebration of fireworks, light shows, church bells and dancing rolled across Europe on Friday night toward a culminating ceremony on Saturday in the Irish capital, where the 15 nations of the European Union welcomed the largest expansion of its borders ever by taking in eight former Communist states of Eastern Europe and two Mediterranean countries.
Continued monitoring and additional treatments, such as gap expansion along southern borders, will likely be necessary in order to ensure underrepresented species successfully reach maturity.
There was a complacent assumption that Vladimir Putin would confine himself to rhetorical opposition to western expansion to his borders, and that he would rely on diplomacy to respond to the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow president in Kiev.
