The undeniable fact that we will not be able to go back to a pre-globalized existence, nor would it be in our best interests to turn in on ourselves, in times of crisis and upheaval, risking the rise of nationalistic border-controlling states, forces us to be optimistic.
Johan Huizinga was the first historian to place Netherlandish art squarely in the Burgundian period – outside of nationalistic borders – suggesting in his book The Waning of the Middle Ages, published in 1919, that the flowering of the school in the early 15th century resulted wholly from the tastes set by the Burgundian court.
A disputed border, nationalistic fervor, reckless personal honor and diplomatic miscalculation have all contributed to the fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and have produced one of the world's bloodiest conventional wars in recent years.
Discourses of prejudice and nationalistic hubris resonate across borders instantly.
And it's a series that I think might make me cross, bordering on nationalistic, if I was Cornish.
The play was written in 1987, which gives an extra, unintended poignancy to Luna's assertion that borders and nationalistic thinking are things of the past.
In the future, when people look back and evaluate Europe's treatment of people from the war-torn regions of Africa and the Near East in the year 2015, the Freedom Party of Austria, the Polish Right and Justice party and the Hungarian Fidesz party will not able to fall back on the claim that closing the borders or taking nationalistic "special measures" were their only options.
For that reason, Rijkman Groenink, its chief executive, had for years spearheaded a vigorous campaign to stop nationalistic European politicians from blocking cross-border mergers.
Of all the players on the men's tour, who better to cross international borders and transcend heated nationalistic agendas than the man who has won Grand Slam tournaments on hardcourts, grass and clay?
But the Georgians are intensely nationalistic, and viewed these de facto states on their border as an intolerable violation of sovereignty.
But if we are unlikely to resort to arms anytime soon, the clashes in Asia have shown how seemingly minor border disputes can suddenly stoke regional and nationalistic tensions.
