Scales of string theory

I review the arguments in favour of/against the traditional hypothesis that the Planck, string and compactification scales are all within a couple of orders of magnitude of each ether. I explain how the extreme brane-world scenario, with TeV type I scale and two large (near millimetric) transverse dimensions, creates conditions analogous to those of the energy desert and is thus naturally singled out. I comment on the puzzle of gauge coupling unification in this context.