Just as there was ...

[pars]

Dear everybody

What is the exact meaning of the following passage? The sentences in bold are intended:

The shifting climate of historical opinion and the rise of global, interactive history and its emphasis on networks – local, regional, and global – allow us to see the Caucasus as a place of multiple circulations. As Bernhard Struck, Kate Ferris, and Jacques Revel contend, “Just as there was a growing market for national histories in the nineteenth century and a mutual process of nation-building, the emergence of history as a discipline and a national (reading) market, something similar might be or is already happening in terms of demand and market for transnational histories.” The global optic, alluded to by these scholars, helps us appreciate the remarkably “connected” nature of Caucasian history and explore the local and regional particularities of the Caucasus at the turn of the twentieth century in conjunction with globally experienced developments, which facilitated and accelerated the circulation of individuals, ideas, and materials.

The text is from the essay: Nest of Revolution: The Caucasus, Iran, and Armenians, written by Houri Berberian in the book "Russians in Iran", edited by Rudi Matthee and Elena Andreeva.

Thanks very much.

 

[SoothingDave]

People might want to start reading history books about regions instead of nations.

 

[jutfrank]

The Caucasus is a region, not a country, but is increasingly being viewed as having its own history and identity, as nation states were in the nineteenth century.

 

[pars]

Thanks very much dear Jufrank! But, the exact meaning of the words in bold is still ambiguous for me. Furthermore, what does "global optic" mean here?

 

[jutfrank]

Which words in particular are not clear?

global optic refers to the way of looking at things from a global, as opposed to local, perspective.

 

[Tarheel]

The sentences in bold are intended.

That baffles me.