> none of these border decisions were (initially at least) designed to accurately represent cultural and ethnic identities the way America was colonized for exa

> none of these border decisions were (initially at least) designed to accurately represent cultural and ethnic identities the way America was colonized for example I'm not sure what you're referring to here. American borders were laid out without any consideration for indigenous peoples (the general policy of colonial and post-colonial states towards such peoples being "exterminate them"), and colonial and post-colonial states fought lots of wars over transferring land between them for reasons that boil down to simply "I want more land."