CDSn4001:
Conflict
Analysis
Studying conflict: theory
and levels of analysis
September 25, 2023
Miriam Matejova, PhD
Agenda
• Levels of analysis – how
to study conflict
• What is theory and
what is it good for?
The levels of analysis and the study of
conflict
• Why levels of analysis?
– “methodological bets”
– Scope of the research objective
• What types of levels of analysis?
– Individual, state, systemic
– Often just two: within state and outside of
state
– Could be more levels
The “three images” in IR
• Kenneth Waltz, Man, State, and War
(1959)
–Why do wars happen?
–Human nature, “bad” states or societies,
international anarchy
Individual causes of conflict
• Role of political leaders, personalities, groups
of people
• Cognitive biases, misperceptions,
psychological issues
Domestic causes of conflict
• Ideological
– Nationalism, militarism, etc.
• Governance, political and economic regimes
• Cultural, historical, ethnic factors
Systemic causes of conflict
• The character of the international system in
which states co-exist
• Creation and destruction of alliances, changes
in formal institutions and norms at the
international level
Theory and the
study of conflict
• What is
theory?
• What is a good
theory?
• Why do we
need (good)
theory?
Theory
• What is theory?
– An explanation of some aspect of the world based
on reasoning, observation, and/or
experimentation.
• What is a good theory?
– Describe, explain, predict, prescribe
– Accuracy, generality, parsimony, causality