Which of the three levels of analysis do you think helps us best understand events in world politics? In presenting your answer, be sure to discuss the costs and benefits of using each level of analysis, providing real-world examples to back up your argument.

In political science we use three widely accepted levels of generalization (or abstraction) to help understand highly complex problems in world politics. They are: the individual, state (or, society) and the international system.

when world war i broke out across europe in 1914, president woodrow wilson proclaimed the united states would remain neutral, and many americans supported this policy of nonintervention. however, public opinion about neutrality started to change after the sinking of the british ocean liner lusitania by a german u-boat in 1915; almost 2,000 people perished, including 128 americans. along with news of the zimmerman telegram threatening an alliance between germany and mexico, wilson asked congress for a declaration of war against germany. the u.s. officially entered the conflict on april 6, 1917.