The "World" is a complex and perplexing, if many splendored thing! Having the Earth as its natural habitat, the world is the social system of humanity. Although incoherent, decentralized and dynamic, it is a system nevertheless, because it has certain ordered relations and processes to qualify it as such.

Looking at the world as a global system has some advantages, not the least of which is intellectual. This means that, it provides a conceptual framework and methodology to understand its nature and operation. Without such comprehension, the world would seem to be "full of sound and fury signifying nothing." Since human beings forever seek to explain things to their satisfaction, systems theory serves adequately for many people.