Concluding Remarks

Abstract

The growth of cooperation when serious problems arise is such a normal aspect of contemporary international relations that it little surprises us. The man in the street, the policy maker, the expert, takes for granted that, in the globalized world, the mass media diffuse information about any serious problem and that this information causes the mobilization of policy makers and those concerned to tackle the local and remote consequences of the problem. Nowadays, it is generally thought that states are so closely linked to one another that governments can hardly shirk doing something their citizens and fellows expect they will do. Briefly, for practical and moral reasons, aiding countries in need due to the sudden occurrence of problems and emergencies is considered usual today. The more contemporary society is society of knowledge and planning, the more we feel compelled to act when something not known beforehand and capable of disrupting people’s lives suddenly takes place and has consequences that, if not coped with quickly and efficiently, will deteriorate for those close by as well as further afield.