This study involves a network analysis of the world economy, looking specifically at the international system of trade among nations. The topic of the world system -- the structure of the world-economy and how it changes or remains stable -- is a central theoretical concept for those doing research at the international level. Another important theoretical construct is that of "unequal exchange" of commodities. This project uses the technical advances of network methodology to examine the network of exchanges within the world system, focusing specifically on the unequal exchange in trade among nations, the direction and nature of these exchanges, and how these change over time. By combining time-series data on international trade reaching back as far as 1938 with innovations in network methodology, the study will be able to evaluate hypotheses about changes in both the overall structure of the world system and the specific roles which particular nations play in it. The implications of these patterns of trade for various measures of economic growth, political stability and social development within countries will also be assessed. Two principal data sources will be used: the Commodity Trade Statistics, and the United Nation's Direction of International Trade. Trade between nations is a topic that can only be addressed at a global, world-system level. To understand the commodity exchanges between any two nations requires information about their patterns of exchange with other trading partners. Hence the importance of network analysis, which enables the researcher to take into account all of the trade linkages among nations. Knowledge of this structure of international trade, and the roles certain nations play in commodity exchanges at various points in time, is crucial to arrive at an understanding of a wide array of social, political, and economic changes within particular societies and across nations.
