abstract: This paper starts with an assumption that geopolitics, understood as one of the great schools of international relations, is not only still relevant but, indeed, should be one of the essential items in the toolkit of any student or policymaker who peruses the challenging and ever-eluding realm of international security.It draws chiefl y on Sir Halford Mackinder's Heartland theory in order to explain the dynamics of contemporary European security in general, and the ongoing war in Ukraine in part
journal: Studia Europejskie-Studies in European Affairs