1. Chapter 1: Analyzing
World Politics

2. “Today many things indicate that
we are going through a
transitional period, when it
seems that something is on the
way out and something else is
painfully being born…”
Václav Havel
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3. Important Aspects of
World Politics Today
 Global political system
 Cold War
 September 11, 2001
 States in the international system
 Anarchy in the international system
 Cycles of world politics
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4. How Perceptions Influence Images of
International Reality
 “Objective” facts are subject to
interpretation
 Schematic reasoning
 Cognitive dissonance
 Mirror image phenomenon
 Enduring rivalries
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5. The Role of Images
in World Politics
 Soviet fear of foreign invasion
 American isolationism pre-1941
 Mutual misperceptions fuel discord in
world politics
 Mirror images: United States and
Soviet Union during the Cold War
 Images can change: Vietnam War and
utility of military force
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6. Should We Believe What We See?
The Mercator Projection
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7. Should We Believe What We See?
Peter’s Projection
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8. Should We Believe What We See?
Orthographic Projection
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9. Six Keys to Understanding
World Politics (1 of 2)
 Terminology
 Background information
 Transnational actors
• States
• Nonstate actors
 Actors’ foreign policies,
international relations, and
international politics
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10. Picturing Types of Foreign Policy
and Actor Relationships
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11. Six Keys to Understanding
World Politics (2 of 2)
 Levels of analysis
• Individual: Human characteristics—
perceptions, images, knowledge, psychology
• State: How states make decisions; economic
power; military power; domestic factors
• Global (Systemic): Interactions of states and
nonstate actors at the international level that
affect conflict and cooperation
 Change, cycles and continuities in world
politics
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12. The Major
Factors Affecting
Foreign Policy
Decision and
International
Relations:
Influences at
Three Levels
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