Flint C. Introduction to Geopolitics

The book is an outgrowth of a class I taught for seven years at Penn State University
and have continued to teach at the University of Illinois. The classes and the book aim
to help people gain a greater understanding of current events by placing them in a bigger
picture. I try to achieve this goal by introducing one overarching framework and a
number of different theoretical perspectives. The overarching framework is one of structure
and agency, or, put simply, that people and groups of people try to achieve particular
goals within particular situations. These situations can, to some degree, help the people
and groups (or agents) achieve their goals and/or frustrate them or limit their options.
Using a geographic perspective, I define structures as both the situation within particular
places and also how global politics has an impact upon actions taken within countries
and places.