This activity book highlights recent changes in international political and economic systems of the world. Teachers of geography, history, economics, political science, current issues, foreign languages, and journalism will find these activities useful in integrating the "State of the World Atlas" into their curriculum. Two introductory activities familiarize the students with the features of the "Atlas" and address recent changes. The rest of the activities are divided into four sections. The first section uses an area studies approach to address various sections of the world. Activities focus on geopolitical and cultural groupings of nations. Stereotypes, similarities and differences, and interrelationships among the nations are explored. The second section keys on global issues such as human rights, the global environment and trade. In the third section, students apply research skills to the "Atlas" as a whole, learning that caution must be used with data collected by governments and presented by authors with a definite perspective. The fourth section integrates the use of the 1995 "State of the World Atlas" with several other specialized atlases produced by Simon and Schuster: "The State of Religion"; "The State of Health"; and "The State of the Earth." These activities do not require full classroom sets of the specialized atlases and could be used as enrichment activities for individual students. (EH)