A Pre-Theory Revisited: World Politics in an Era of Cascading Interdependence

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Abstract
On the presumption that the structures of global affairs are undergoing a profound crisis of authority and other changes of a comparable magnitude, the analysis seeks to build a comprehensive theory of world politics that synthesizes these developments at micro as well as macro levels. The synthesis is accomplished by focusing on the simultaneity and expansivity of patterns promoting both the coherence and the breakdown of systems at all levels, patterns that are given the label of ‘cascading interdependence’ and that are explored through the concepts of action scripts, analytic aptitudes, subgroupism, aggregation, and adaptation. In this context governments are posited as increasingly ineffective as international actors and individuals as increasingly skilled in their public roles. In addition, analysts of world politics are seen as inevitably shaping the course of events, so that it is important for them to remain ever sensitive to the ways in which they interact with the world they seek to study.

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