Which analytic technique would be appropriate to explore structural relationships among three states in an alliance scenario?

• A. ACH
• B. Regression analysis
• C. Network analysis
• D. SWOT analysis

Answer: (C)

Understanding how the three states are connected in an alliance requires looking at who is tied to whom, how strong those ties are, and what the overall pattern of connections looks like. Network analysis does exactly that by treating each state as a node and each alliance or commitment as a link. It lets you map the structure and then measure properties like centrality (which state is most influential or most connected), density (how tightly coupled the group is), and cohesion or clustering (are all three connected to each other or does one link only through another). In an alliance scenario with three actors, this helps you see whether the alliance is bilateral with one hub, a trilateral with equal ties, or fragmented. Regression analysis, by contrast, would focus on predicting one variable from others and doesn’t capture the pattern of mutual relationships across actors. SWOT analyzes internal strengths/weaknesses and external opportunities/threats for a single actor, not the relational structure among multiple states. The other option isn’t designed for analyzing networks of actors, so it wouldn’t provide insights into how the three states structurally relate in the alliance.