Geopolitical code: Definitions, ideas and significance

The geopolitical position of a country is most often determined by its physical-geographical and socio-geographical characteristics, while the geopolitical code, according to Colin Flint, is a set of strategic assumptions that a state's government uses to determine how to position itself in international relations. According to this view, the geopolitical code always contains two key variables: scale (whether the state is oriented locally, regionally, or globally) and orientation (to whom and how the state projects its interests and activities). The geopolitical code is not static; it changes depending on internal political circumstances and changes in the global order. Flint's concept of the geopolitical code enables the analysis of the foreign policy of modern states, not only as sets of simple strategic decisions, but as sets of dynamic processes that include political power, economic logic, cultural symbolism, and public perception. Guided by Flint's theory of the geopolitical code, the aim of this paper is to study contemporary approaches to the definition, idea, and significance of the geopolitical code in international relations, with special reference to the Republic of Serbia.