International cooperation: an essential component of international relations

Abstract

The spread of industrialization and modernization in all societies has made the expansion and institutionalization of international cooperation one of the remarkable aspects in international relations since World War II. Governments, whether greatly or slightly expressive in international forums, became part of an intricate network of institutions that disseminates standards of conduct and technical procedures through different societies, consolidating cooperation as part of the countries’ long-term foreign policy. Ultimately, cooperation is the channel through which a nation keeps connected with prevalent economic and social patterns and with major trends taking place in the fields of science and knowledge, as well as with their applications and benefits. The growing advance of cooperation mechanisms means new opportunities and new problems which, in their turn, begin to demand the construction of more coherent and compatible international cooperation systems, whether in their practices, or in their institutions. This trend is confronted with other problems of a structural nature, the dilemma between the interests for short-term and long-term benefits and the need for more integrated approaches, given the increasing inability to cope with complex social and political phenomena based on the archaic logic of specialization.