Akira Iriye, The Cold War in Asia , pp. Morton Kaplan, System and Process in International Politics , pp. Before we begin the session on the Cold War system, we will spend a couple of moments looking at three approaches to explaining conflict and cooperation in international politics. Kenneth Waltz in his classic study Man, State and War calls the approaches levels of analysis. Optimists believe that causes of conflict can be eliminated or overcome and that conflict and war are not inevitable.
Pessimists believe just the opposite.
The first level of analysis is that of the individual person. The decision-maker defines the situation. For example, one well-known analyst, John Stoessinger, suggests the following argument. Mortal people make decisions not actors in a Greek tragedy grappling with forces beyond their control. In most cases, they are not evil people bent upon destruction because of original sin, lust, or whatever.