Individuals in the International Community

In a recent New York Times Article, Fidel Castro warns against any plot on Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez’s life, claiming if he is assassinated it will all entirely on the shoulders of the United States. I feel that Fidel Castro, the man and the myth, is a perfect example of why the individual level of analysis is critical to comprehending the International community in its entirety. The passion and the ability to rally masses that many leaders (both positive and negative) have utilized to shape history has been remarkable and should not be marginalized by a tendency to focus on the actions of states and not the leaders responsible.

On that same note, Newsweek last week published an interesting article looking at Bush’s ability to “stay the course” in Iraq as well as the lack there of. The article asserts that the successful elections in Iraq occurred only because of the flexibility with which he faced the many failures in the operation. The article asserts that also, (despite Bush’s claims that “Lincoln set the goal and stayed the course. I will do the same.”) While in reality, Lincoln actually exercised an impressive ability to admit when he was wrong publicly but go on to fix the situation. Both these articles serve to highlight the importance at considering the individual level of analysis and the various personality characteristics that affect the entire international community.