Central Asia was once the prize in the so-called Great Game, a centre of competition for the Russians, British, Persians, Mongols and Turks at various times. The region sits at the intersection of the Russian steppes, the western Chinese frontier, the mountain passes into the Indian subcontinent, and the modern Middle East. The region is at once a barrier and a bridge between the powers in its periphery. It is a path for trade and a highway for invasion, a vast strategic buffer and a cauldron of ethnic and national competition and instability. In this podcast we look at the geopolitics of Central Asia.