Baskara T. Wardaya SJ.
Published: 2017-05-31
Total Pages: 248
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WHAT did the Romans, Genghis Khan, Christopher Columbus and the CIA have in common? They were all "border crossers". They were not content with their respective traditional borders and they went pass these borders. It appears that since the ancient times, for better or worse, there has been strong tendencies among different peoples and nations to go beyond their own borders, in the broadest sense of the word, in search of something different-- different territories, different peoples, different opportunities, different spheres of influence, etc. Not surprisingly, these historical border-crossing-agents were not alone. There were many others. To them we can add a list of other people who were also went beyond their borders in search of something new, something different: the American Indians, the Vikings, the Germans, the Arabs, the Chinese, and many more. This book tries to humbly offer notes on the dynamics related to such tendency, especially during the colonial and early post-colonial periods. It wants to show how during the two periods people began to globally move around and influence (often dominate) each other, directly and indirectly. It happened not only in one place but in many: not only in England but also in South America; not only in the Continental Europe, but also in Indonesia. As results, there were, birth of new ideas, international collaboration, cultural exchange, formation of trans-national institutions, but also deadly witch-hunting, regional rebellion, war, colonization, and imperialism.