In the same ten years period the number of refugees has also risen phenomenally from 20 million to about 50 million. As the shift has been observed from international to intra-national conflicts, one can imagine the soaring number of internally displaced persons as well. Moreover, whereas 30 years ago combatants received the major brunt of the suffering, the unconventional nature of such conflicts today has made civilians, i.e. mothers and children, the elderly and the sick, the preponderant majority of the victims. This is the contradiction that needs to be understood in order to attempt an effective humanitarian approach. After the end of the Cold War, one specific development clearly noticeable is globalisation and its handmaid regionalisation.
Globalisation emerges most clearly as an economic reality.
Raw materials, finished products, finances, commodities such as minerals, petroleum and the like in current or future markets are moved left and right in the international market as never before. They are bought and sold instantly in centres such as New York, London and Tokyo. With the push of a button huge transactions take place and profits and losses occur in astronomical figures. The boom and doom that follows affects whole regions and raises issues of economic and political stability. Currently the tri-polar regionalisation consisting of Western Europe, America and East Asia is particularly noticeable.