ABSTRACT
The global international system has two fundamental properties: it is non-hierarchic, and its major units are mutually nonmobile. The properties are fundamental in the sense of being non-reducible to more basic ones. Analogously to consequences deduced from the traditional assumption of international anarchy, the implications derived are necessarily of a somewhat imprecise nature. International relations is understood as the interaction of two or more international units. Negotiations between Croatia and Slovenia are as much international politics as the Cuban missile crisis, and also reactive behaviour is a form of interaction. Most of the variance in international politics is found synchronically between units, rather than diachronically for individual units. Ecological degradation has been emphasized as an aspect of increased international interdependence. The modifications notwithstanding, salient environment should have explanatory primacy at the expense of the overall system regarding unit behaviour, given the peculiarities of international politics compared to other types of system.
