Delineating state groups through cluster analysis

Abstract

This discussion is extracted from a larger research project in which an attempt is made to remedy the conceptual difficulties surrounding the “middle state” in international relations by defining the middle state vis-à-vis other types of states and without reference to any single dominant ontological framework. In this section of that project, the statistical technique of cluster analysis is used to demonstrate that the international state system contains three delineable state groups (labeled great, middle and small states). This article also demonstrates the use and usefulness of the cluster technique in international relations research.