Theoretical approaches to the study of borderlands and cross-border relations have long gone beyond the scope of international relations. Since the 80-ies of XX century, many social scientists have realized that the phenomenon of the border is not closed only to the problems of relations between the countries, but relates to a variety of issues of the functioning of the border space and the subjects of this space. All this leads to the emergence of such a scientific branch as Border Studies. Considering new approaches, the authors nonetheless appeal to an old methodology that describes the problem of the peripheral and even trans-border territories, i.e. Frontier theory. Using a new understanding of the Frontier as a meeting of cultures or В«institutional faultВ», the author proposes to use this theory to analyze the essence of the border processes. According to the authors, the model of В«internal frontierВ» proposed by the American historian I. Kopytoff for the analysis of traditional societies can be very useful for the analysis of border processes and inter-state relations. The author believes that this model can be productive also for understanding of the development strategies of border areas falling within the area of interest of several Metropoles.
