ABSTRACT

What is the best way to study the international system? We can utilize the ‘level of analysis’ approach as a conceptual tool in trying to understand how state actors formulate foreign policies. We can observe what the individual policymaker is saying; we can try to decipher the domestic rivalries between and among the bureaucracies; or we can ‘black box’ the state and focus solely on the foreign policy outcome of the state as a unitary actor. But what about the international system itself, if it is comprised of various state actors, along with international institutions and non-state actors such as Multinational Corporations? Perhaps we can use levels of analysis to understand how each state in the international system formulates its own foreign policy and aggregate the result. However, this chapter suggests that there is a better way to try to understand the complexities inherent in the international system.

This chapter makes sense of the levels of analysis of the international system by trying to ‘tell stories’ about how we might begin to conceptualize them. We explore four stories that provide different perspectives on how the international system ‘works’. The first story takes a holistic view of the international system and assumes that international actors are power maximizers who seek to balance power amongst themselves. At the same time, this story recognizes states as the only relevant actors in the international system, effectively ‘black boxing’ the state. The second story shares similarities with the first story, by taking a holistic approach, and focusing on the system level. However, it also suggests that actors are able to take a longer term view and engage in cooperative behaviour, creating international institutions – such as the UN – in the process. This story recognizes that the international system is comprised of not only states, but also non-state actors. The third story considers the international system to be a complex web of social relations in which perceptions, ideas and symbols matter – just as human society revolves around such intangible factors. For this story, not only the state, but bureaucracy and individual policymakers are relevant actors. Finally, the fourth story takes a radically different approach, using metaphor to suggest that our understanding of the international system – and the international life in general – are nothing but stories in and of themselves.

The aim of this chapter is not to identify the ‘correct’ story; but rather, to make ourselves aware of the various ways through which we can begin to make sense of the complex international system. The debates in IR theory often revolve around thinkers exchanging their own stories about how the international system ‘works’. The four stories should make debates more accessible. The task for us – as students of International Relations – is to try to tell the most convincing story about the complexities of the international system.