The opening lecture “Romania: From the Crossroads of Empires to the Globalized World” is a general introduction to the Romanian “Other”, based on a critique of its construction within the framework of the West-East dichotomy. Romania is presented as a country on and of the border, a contact zone, whose unique features have been generated by its location at the crossroads of empires – Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian and Soviet - between West and East, the Latin and the Slavic worlds, the Catholic-Protestant and the Orthodox Churches and between South-Eastern and Central-European countries. The last part of the lecture addresses the impact Romania’s newly acquired memberships in NATO and the EU has had on the general American perception of Romania and relates the significance of the KSU Year of Romania Program to the current celebration of 130 years of United States-Romanian diplomatic relations and of 50 years of Fulbright educational exchanges in Romania.