Chapter 5 asks whether it is possible to develop a theory of international relations wholly at the level of the international system. We look at some of the main attempts to do so, spending most time on Kenneth Waltz's systems account. Chapter 6 sets out the counter-case for an analysis in terms of the state, working' bottom-up' from states to system. The vehicle chosen is Game Theory, which treats the state as a closed, utility-maximizing unit and so denies the need to' open the box' to see how states are organized. In Chapter 7, however, we do' open the box', by taking bureaucracy as a rival to the state in what is thus the second debate about the level of analysis. We use Graham Allison's Bureaucratic Politics model to see whether foreign policy can be convincingly portrayed as the result of bureaucratic bargaining. If it can not, that might mean victory for the state in the second debate. But, alternatively, it might mean that there is