IR: Actors and Levels of Analysis

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Actors and Levels of Analysis

A couple of basic concepts in International Politics Language and organization to help think and talk like a student of International Relations

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1. Actors

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Actors: States VS Non-State

States: - territory controlled by a government, and inhabited by a population. State has sovereignty over the territory i.e. Has control. Can have military, use force, make and enforce laws, collect taxes, etc. State sovereignty is recognized by

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Note:

When were talking about states here, we mean them in the country sense, not in the sense of a state of the United States, like California. This is important to distinguish.

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State VS Nation

Nation: a group of people (usually sharing a territory) that share a collective identity, often because of shared language, culture, religion, etc. E.g. Korea, Quebec, Uyghur (Ooygoor) people of Northwestern China
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Nation-State

Those times when the state is composed of a nation of people. When state and nation overlap. Not all states are made up like this. E.g. Canada Quebec, First Nations,

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Non-State Actors

Actors other than states can be important in International Relations. Non-State Actors: actors that are not states, and that can act below the level of the state (sub-state actors) or above it (transnational actors).

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Sub-state Actors:

Act WITHIN states, but can be important for us as well. E.g.:

nations within states Political parties Individual people Companies or Industries (Automotive in U.S.) - Lobbying

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Transnational Actors

Operate beyond just one state Many important types of these exist.

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Transnational Actors: Multinational Coroprations (MNCs)

Can be more powerful that some small states (control more resources, affect other govts more than) Can act to make governments friendly to their business interests (Canadian mining companies in Central and South America)

Not always negative, can work well with state actors to bring investment 3/11/12 developement and

Transnational Actors: NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOs)

Private organizations that can influence state and interstate politics E.g.

Catholic Church Greenpeace International Olympic Committee (IOC)

Can be political, humanitarian, economic, technical, etc

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Transnational Actors: Global Social Movements

Protests, rights activists groups, etc. For example, anti-globalization movements, anti-Free Trade movements, Occupy movements, Democracy movements Quickly growing more important in our connected world.
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Facebook 2005 2012

Not NGOs, or social movements, but act like them in some ways. Can act globally and be a huge influence on international politics. Again partly because of changes in technology and individual capabilities

Transnational Actors: International Terrorist Groups

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Organizations whose members are state governments E.g.

Transnational Actors: Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)

World Trade Organization World Bank International Monetary Fund United Nations

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (only 11 members) 3/11/12

IGOs (continued)

Can also be military alliances

North American Treaty Organization (NATO)

Or political groupings

African Union

IGOs and NGOs can be referred to generally as International 3/11/12

2. Levels of Analysis

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Levels of Analysis:

Lots of types of actors all interacting can make things confusing. So many use levels of analysis to help organize and understand. 4 main levels: individual, domestic, interstate, and global (see table 1.1)

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Individual Level

Perceptions, choices, and actions of individual human beings Probably least often the focus, but still important. Who are some important single person actors of history or currently? 3/11/12

Domestic / State / Societal Level

Groups of individuals WITHIN states that can influence states actions on an international level Again, refer to Table 1.1

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Interstate / International / Systemic Level

Interactions of states (+ other actors) without considering their internal makeup or their particular leaders Often looking at location, power, E.g. The U.S. attacked Germany in WWII
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Global Level

Global trends and forces that are bigger than interactions between states. The least clear, and least common focus of these 4 levels. E.g.

Historical trends Evolution of technology Worldwide beliefs (e.g. Nationalism) Global economy

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Time for Some Practice!

Take a look at the Actors and Levels of Analysis Practice Worksheet Try #1 by yourself first. After youve done all you can, compare your results with a friend or 2. Can you add more with their help? Then look at #2 on the back, work with peers to analyze an example of 3/11/12 your choice.