This paper presents a qualitative approach of global governance by using methods of social network analysis. The balance of power in international relations is constantly renewing. At this moment global governance, an evolving concept that became a central theme in the study of international relations shapes the power balance. Taking into account that the study of global governance analyzes the relationships between various actors of the international system and that global governance is, in fact, a broad definition of a government, we can consider it a mechanism that covers various international functions (sometimes overlapping). Looking at the international scene as a whole, through the perspective of nation states we will end up seeing international relations as driven by traditional international organizations or other institutions created and shaped by formal delegations of nation states. Oppositely, if one sees the states as international actors, but as dividable ones, a new international landscape appears. Analyzing global governance in terms of the networks and actors within it and using techniques developed by other disciplines, at different junctions such as temporal, geographical, social, relational etc., would bring a new perspective on the complex structures of world politics. Therefore, global governance would be more than a descriptive label applied to the international power structures, but a way of analysis and mapping for the latter. Using empirical research data, this paper will also assess the characteristics of the networks formed by global governance actors and connect the theoretical implications of its structures with foreign policy outcomes, thus showing a map of relationships that can prove very useful to practitioners in strategic planning. Global governance has been a difficult concept to grasp because the way it manifests itself might appear inconsistent. By providing a method to capture and map the abundance of global governance data from the increasingly larger records of movements and transactions of every actor the usage and examination of interaction patterns will grow significantly.
