An approach that uses diagrams to illustrate systems of influence is described and proposed as a medium for cross-cultural communication. The approach, entitled System Dynamics, facilitates representation of complex interactions, and has been used in a variety of scientific and professional fields since its inception in the 1950's. Influence diagrams circumvent many of the difficulties of encoding and decoding natural language. The diagrams provide a "language" not biased by culture or history, a non-linear approach to problem-solving and critical thinking, and the clarity and conciseness of graphic representation. In them, the structure and behavior of systems are designated by feedback loops, negative and positive, sketching causal hypotheses and indicating the assumptions underlying any model. (MSE)