The history and geopolitics of the famous "Great Game" is the centre-piece of this course. The original, nineteenth-century Great Game was a struggle between Tsarist Russia and Victorian England for political dominance, territorial control and security in Central Asia. It is a tale of adventure, espionage and the goal of world domination. The course also situates the nineteenth-century Great Game in a wider perspective by looking at the clash of empires in Inner Eurasia from Genghis Khan to the New Great Game of today. The geopolitics of Inner Eurasia have changed dramatically with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of Islamic extremism, and competition among new players for security and oil in this suddenly strategically-important region. Russia, China, the United States, India, Iran and Turkey, old neighbours and new game-players, are now lining up on the chessboard.