CHAPTER 1
Analyzing World Politics
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Distinguish between forces of continuity and forces of change in world politics.
Discuss the significance of the Peace of Westphalia in the emergence of the
modern state system.
Explain how the psychological processes by which we select, organize, and
interpret information can bias our perceptions of international events.
Apply the levels-of-analysis framework to events in world politics.
Describe the criteria social scientists use for making inferences about the
proximate and remote causes of international events.
SUMMARY OVERVIEW
A good beginning point for analyzing world politics is to acknowledge that world
politics are characterized by both continuity and change. Chapter 1 illustrates this
by pointing out that records of human civilization and conflict among humans may
be traced back to approximately 2500 BCE and the Sumerian city-states of
Mesopotamia. This is the same region where in 2003 the United States launched a
military campaign against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein employing the
technology of modern warfare including high-flying bombers and predator drones.
Thus, war is a continuing trend among human beings; however, the actors of war
(city-states versus modern states) and technologies of war have changed
dramatically.
Trends of continuity and change are also evident in the fact that since the 1648
Treaty of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, the state-centric
system has spread around the globe mostly supplanting political entities like city-
states and empires, and the sovereign state remains the dominant actor in world
affairs. Over time, however, nonstate actors like transnational corporations (e.g.
Microsoft, Royal Dutch Shell, and Toyota), intergovernmental organizations (e.g., the
United Nations, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization), and global
nongovernmental organizations (e.g. Amnesty International, the catholic church,
and Doctors without Borders) have increasingly gained influence in world politics.
, A second important consideration to be acknowledged at the outset when analyzing
world politics is that individual perceptions shape our interpretation of world
politics. Each of us holds explicit and/or implicit, conscious and/or subconscious
mental images of the nature of world politics and how global politics work. These
preexisting values, understandings, and expectations derive from childhood
socialization, vivid life experiences and/or ideas conveyed by people we respect. We
perceive these mental images as self-evident and “true,” and our minds select and
filter the vast quantities of incoming information through the lens of these mental
images. However, these heuristics may include stereotypes and biases and blind us
to incoming information worthy of attention and analysis. Cognitive efforts to
reduce complexity may result in our relying upon the most readily available data
and/or our assigning undue importance to the first information we receive. As a
matter of fact, ideas and information incompatible with our mental images may be
reinterpreted to coincide with our preconceived images or ignored to avoid
cognitive dissonance. Achieving “conceptual and practical jailbreaks” (see James N.
Rosenau, 1990) is the challenge. We must cultivate a critical attitude toward our
beliefs and mental images. Understanding that our mental images are unique to us,
we must be prepared to “see the world through others’ eyes.” To understand others’
actions in world politics, we must ask what they value, what they fear, and what
influences their positive and negative behaviors.
Beyond being cognizant of the roles played by perceptions, mental images, and
distortions in information processing, Chapter 1 recommends employing a levels of
analysis framework to systematize information and to avoid missing or ignoring
relevant information. While seeking “causation” and theory building are contested
activities, analysts may aspire to identify trends and patterns in international
politics and to seek out underlying abstract principles that might help explain
concrete cases and events. Rather than relying on analogies, the world politics
analyst may classify and compare possible proximate and remote individual, state-
level, and system-level causes of events in world politics. The analyst might be alert
to time sequences of events and actions and/or chains of causation. Employing
counterfactuals is another strategy recommended to enhance critical thinking.
While acknowledging the folly of attempting to make precise predictions as to what
the future holds, Chapter 1 optimistically concludes that we human beings are not
prisoners of fate. With careful analysis of how social, economic, political, and
technology trends interact in different contexts, we can increase our understanding
of global challenges and contribute to the creation of a more peaceful, prosperous,
and just world.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN WORLD POLITICS
, A. The Emergence of the Nation-State System
B. The Rise of Nonstate Actors
II. How Perceptions Shape Our Interpretation of World Politics
CONTROVERSY Should We Believe What We See?
APPLICATION Seeing the World through Foreign Eyes
III. A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYZING WORLD POLITICS
A. Levels of Analysis
B. Time Sequences
C. Applying the Framework to the Cold War’s End
IV. THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT WORLD POLITICS
A. The Puzzle of Counterfactuals and Causal Inference
B. The Plan of the Book
C. The Investigative Challenge
V. CHAPTER SUMMARY
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Does the state remain the most important actor in world politics?
2. How can we overcome our individual preconceptions and cognitive
“blinders” to enhance our understanding of world politics?
3. Is it possible to assign causation and build theories to explain world politics?
LECTURE LAUNCHERS
1. Some students may not have considered how global factors affect them
personally on a daily basis. Raise their global consciousness by having them
respond to the following directives:
Raise your hand if you personally have traveled, studied,
volunteered, or worked abroad.
Raise your hand if you have relatives living abroad.
Raise your hand if you or one of your relatives has worked for a
transnational firm.
, Raise your hand if you have friends or relatives in the military.
Raise your hand if you purchase gasoline.
Raise your hand if you drive a foreign car.
Raise your hand if you enjoy foreign films.
Have them suggest other examples of global factors that influence
their everyday lives.
2. Chapter 1 informs that our mental images of world politics are shaped by
our values and beliefs, previous vivid experiences, and ideas derived from
persons we respect. Take out a sheet of paper and create these main
headings:
VALUES AND BELIEFS ABOUT THE WORLD
GLOBAL PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
IDEAS FROM PERSONS WE REPECT
Provide a few examples of how these sources likely contribute to personal
mental images of world politics. Discuss.
3. In discussing how perceptions shape our interpretation of world politics,
Chapter 1 introduces the following concepts: biases, stereotypes, selective
attention, schematic reasoning, and cognitive dissonance. Demonstrate your
understanding of these terms by providing examples of each.
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
1. The textbook recommends a levels of analysis framework for understanding
world politics and applies that framework to examining the end of the Cold
War. Demonstrate your understanding of the levels of analysis framework
by choosing another seminal event in world politics and prepare to debate
the importance of the various levels of analysis in explaining the event. Some
cases that lend themselves to this analysis might be:
The 1950 United Nations decision to undertake military action in Korea
Soviet behavior in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
The 1992 U.S. decision to intervene in Somalia
The 2003 U. S. invasion of Iraq
France’s 2011 decision to contribute to the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization intervention in Libya
2. The textbook stresses former U. S. diplomat Dennis Ross’ admonition to “see
the world through foreign eyes.” Role play (i.e., assume the persona of) one
of the following and explain their highly controversial behaviors. Your role
Analyzing World Politics
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Distinguish between forces of continuity and forces of change in world politics.
Discuss the significance of the Peace of Westphalia in the emergence of the
modern state system.
Explain how the psychological processes by which we select, organize, and
interpret information can bias our perceptions of international events.
Apply the levels-of-analysis framework to events in world politics.
Describe the criteria social scientists use for making inferences about the
proximate and remote causes of international events.
SUMMARY OVERVIEW
A good beginning point for analyzing world politics is to acknowledge that world
politics are characterized by both continuity and change. Chapter 1 illustrates this
by pointing out that records of human civilization and conflict among humans may
be traced back to approximately 2500 BCE and the Sumerian city-states of
Mesopotamia. This is the same region where in 2003 the United States launched a
military campaign against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein employing the
technology of modern warfare including high-flying bombers and predator drones.
Thus, war is a continuing trend among human beings; however, the actors of war
(city-states versus modern states) and technologies of war have changed
dramatically.
Trends of continuity and change are also evident in the fact that since the 1648
Treaty of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, the state-centric
system has spread around the globe mostly supplanting political entities like city-
states and empires, and the sovereign state remains the dominant actor in world
affairs. Over time, however, nonstate actors like transnational corporations (e.g.
Microsoft, Royal Dutch Shell, and Toyota), intergovernmental organizations (e.g., the
United Nations, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization), and global
nongovernmental organizations (e.g. Amnesty International, the catholic church,
and Doctors without Borders) have increasingly gained influence in world politics.
, A second important consideration to be acknowledged at the outset when analyzing
world politics is that individual perceptions shape our interpretation of world
politics. Each of us holds explicit and/or implicit, conscious and/or subconscious
mental images of the nature of world politics and how global politics work. These
preexisting values, understandings, and expectations derive from childhood
socialization, vivid life experiences and/or ideas conveyed by people we respect. We
perceive these mental images as self-evident and “true,” and our minds select and
filter the vast quantities of incoming information through the lens of these mental
images. However, these heuristics may include stereotypes and biases and blind us
to incoming information worthy of attention and analysis. Cognitive efforts to
reduce complexity may result in our relying upon the most readily available data
and/or our assigning undue importance to the first information we receive. As a
matter of fact, ideas and information incompatible with our mental images may be
reinterpreted to coincide with our preconceived images or ignored to avoid
cognitive dissonance. Achieving “conceptual and practical jailbreaks” (see James N.
Rosenau, 1990) is the challenge. We must cultivate a critical attitude toward our
beliefs and mental images. Understanding that our mental images are unique to us,
we must be prepared to “see the world through others’ eyes.” To understand others’
actions in world politics, we must ask what they value, what they fear, and what
influences their positive and negative behaviors.
Beyond being cognizant of the roles played by perceptions, mental images, and
distortions in information processing, Chapter 1 recommends employing a levels of
analysis framework to systematize information and to avoid missing or ignoring
relevant information. While seeking “causation” and theory building are contested
activities, analysts may aspire to identify trends and patterns in international
politics and to seek out underlying abstract principles that might help explain
concrete cases and events. Rather than relying on analogies, the world politics
analyst may classify and compare possible proximate and remote individual, state-
level, and system-level causes of events in world politics. The analyst might be alert
to time sequences of events and actions and/or chains of causation. Employing
counterfactuals is another strategy recommended to enhance critical thinking.
While acknowledging the folly of attempting to make precise predictions as to what
the future holds, Chapter 1 optimistically concludes that we human beings are not
prisoners of fate. With careful analysis of how social, economic, political, and
technology trends interact in different contexts, we can increase our understanding
of global challenges and contribute to the creation of a more peaceful, prosperous,
and just world.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN WORLD POLITICS
, A. The Emergence of the Nation-State System
B. The Rise of Nonstate Actors
II. How Perceptions Shape Our Interpretation of World Politics
CONTROVERSY Should We Believe What We See?
APPLICATION Seeing the World through Foreign Eyes
III. A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYZING WORLD POLITICS
A. Levels of Analysis
B. Time Sequences
C. Applying the Framework to the Cold War’s End
IV. THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT WORLD POLITICS
A. The Puzzle of Counterfactuals and Causal Inference
B. The Plan of the Book
C. The Investigative Challenge
V. CHAPTER SUMMARY
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Does the state remain the most important actor in world politics?
2. How can we overcome our individual preconceptions and cognitive
“blinders” to enhance our understanding of world politics?
3. Is it possible to assign causation and build theories to explain world politics?
LECTURE LAUNCHERS
1. Some students may not have considered how global factors affect them
personally on a daily basis. Raise their global consciousness by having them
respond to the following directives:
Raise your hand if you personally have traveled, studied,
volunteered, or worked abroad.
Raise your hand if you have relatives living abroad.
Raise your hand if you or one of your relatives has worked for a
transnational firm.
, Raise your hand if you have friends or relatives in the military.
Raise your hand if you purchase gasoline.
Raise your hand if you drive a foreign car.
Raise your hand if you enjoy foreign films.
Have them suggest other examples of global factors that influence
their everyday lives.
2. Chapter 1 informs that our mental images of world politics are shaped by
our values and beliefs, previous vivid experiences, and ideas derived from
persons we respect. Take out a sheet of paper and create these main
headings:
VALUES AND BELIEFS ABOUT THE WORLD
GLOBAL PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
IDEAS FROM PERSONS WE REPECT
Provide a few examples of how these sources likely contribute to personal
mental images of world politics. Discuss.
3. In discussing how perceptions shape our interpretation of world politics,
Chapter 1 introduces the following concepts: biases, stereotypes, selective
attention, schematic reasoning, and cognitive dissonance. Demonstrate your
understanding of these terms by providing examples of each.
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
1. The textbook recommends a levels of analysis framework for understanding
world politics and applies that framework to examining the end of the Cold
War. Demonstrate your understanding of the levels of analysis framework
by choosing another seminal event in world politics and prepare to debate
the importance of the various levels of analysis in explaining the event. Some
cases that lend themselves to this analysis might be:
The 1950 United Nations decision to undertake military action in Korea
Soviet behavior in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
The 1992 U.S. decision to intervene in Somalia
The 2003 U. S. invasion of Iraq
France’s 2011 decision to contribute to the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization intervention in Libya
2. The textbook stresses former U. S. diplomat Dennis Ross’ admonition to “see
the world through foreign eyes.” Role play (i.e., assume the persona of) one
of the following and explain their highly controversial behaviors. Your role
