Certain definitions and theoretical structures, accompanied by Venn diagrams, are used to distinguish several dimensions of international and interracial communication. International communication occurs on a political level between representatives of nations. Intercultural communication is communication between individuals of different cultures with no previous colonial relationship. Contracultural communication occurs between individuals of different cultures where one culture has superimposed its values upon the other and created a dominant/submissive relationship. Interracial communication (for example, between whites and non-whites in the United States) has non-whites occupying a marginal position in the society and thereby introducing resentment and strain into the interaction. Interethnic communication occurs between members of various non-white groups who have shared the experience of being a racial minority in a white-dominated structure. Other dimensions considered in the model include economic class stratification and the multi-ethnic composition of the white power structure, both of which complicate the possibilities for interracial communication. The purpose of the model is to describe communication as it exists which may allow a diagnosis of the causes of communication breakdown among groups. (Author/JK)