ABSTRACT
To see Central Asia in perspective, it is useful to bear in mind no fewer than seven scales of analysis, even if one focuses on only a few of them at a time. This chapter presents a comprehensive point of departure is the best. The first and finest scale of analysis is the national scale of analysis where each of the Central Asian countries may be taken separately. Second, there is the regional scale of Central Asia itself, which takes the five former Soviet republics together as a whole and also considers their transnational cultural and demographic interrelationships. Third, the "macro-region" called Greater Central Asia includes "political" Central Asia, plus their cultural and increasing economic connections with such neighboring regions as western China, southern Russia, northern Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. Fourth is the "meta-regional" scale of Central Eurasia. The chapter also looks at Central Asia respectively in the context of the Central Eurasian, Greater Eurasian, and global scales.
