Explain and differentiate among the three levels of analysis used to study international relations.
What will be an ideal response?
The broadest of these levels is the systemic or international level in which attention is directed to the broad patterns and interactions among the players of world politics, and emphasis is placed on the impact of the structural characteristics of the international system itself—including anarchy, the distribution of power, interdependence, globalization, and others—on those interactions.
At the state or national level, attention is directed to the states—or units—themselves, and emphasis is placed on the attributes of countries and nations, such as the type and processes of government or the economy, culture, or other national attributes, and how these factors shape policy goals and behavior and the interactions among the players.
At the individual level, attention is directed to people—policymakers, business CEOs, and other influential persons. This level of analysis emphasizes the personalities, perceptions, and preferences of individual decision makers and their effects on policy and interactions. This includes leaders such as Donald Trump(United States), Angela Merkel (Germany), Vladimir Putin (Russia), Hassan Rouhani (Iran), Xi Jinping (China), Pope Francis (Vatican), and other individuals from the non-state actor arena, such as investors and philanthropists George Soros and Warren Buffett, U2 singer and African aid activist Bono, actress and Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Angelina Jolie, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines Jody Williams, Microsoft founder and foundation head Bill Gates, and Aga Khan of the Aga Khan Development Network.
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In the 1970s and 1980s, critics of high levels of state intervention
in the economy blamed slow economic growth and high unemployment on a number of factors, including: a. low tax rates that contributed to economic inequality. b. deregulation that made it easy for businesses to push spillover costs onto the public. c. cuts in government spending that made it harder to address social problems. d. welfare policies that discouraged people from working.
Which of the following statements best captures Hoffmann's perspective on the role of international law in international politics?
a. International law is a farce. b. International law is largely irrelevant to how states behave. c. International law is a vital tool for preserving peace in the international arena. d. International law serves no useful purpose in the conduct of relations among states. e. International law is a "magnifying mirror" that merely reflects the essence and logic of international politics.