This book is a compilation of papers presentated at the 5^th internasional Indonesia forum, entitled “between the mountain and the see : positioning Indonesia”. The forum was held in Yogyakarta on 9-10 july, 1012, sponsored by Universitas Gajah Mada (Indonesia) and Yale University(USA).

The papersd included in this volume deal in different ways with the concept “Between the Mountain and the See”. One of the several ways to interpret this concept is to draw from its traditional Hindu-Buddhist roots, characterized-among other things-by a culture that is keenly aware of society’s place in a world marked by the sea and the mountains.

The Balinese express this succinctly and quite correctly in the famous phrase, Tri Hita Karana, the Three Fundamentals of Well Being, namely the harmonious relationship with the parahyangan world, the pawongan world and the palemahan world.

If onme reads the articles in this book on will see these relationships reflected. There are papers discussing humans in relation to the environment; papers analyzing problems in human and social relationships; and papers discussing the spiritual and religious aspects of life, or the lives of the people in relation to the supernatural world.

The 6^th internasional Indonesia Forum Conference sought to examine pertinent issues and this edited volume signifies efforts to contribute to the unduerstanding of these issues. The acts of positioning entail locating or relocating Indonesia or its constituent parts between mountains and the seas and beyond, both physical and metaphorical. It is hoped that this volume offers a wealth of insights and information on a range of case that render various issues more intelligible.