The International Financial Cooperation during the Global Financial Crisis - the Case of the Group of Twenty

IntroductionInternational relations are based on multilateral comprising many areas of social, political and economic issues. Economic, financial, cultural, military, scientific are only some of the examples. It is generally believed that enables to achieve the intended aims faster and effectively for common benefit. The capacity of a single state to resolve problems raised by globalizations seems to be not only difficult, but more and more often - impossible. Today's global challenges require transnational resolutions. Highly complex and interdependent world with interconnected economies demands cooperative approach. States are not the only actors of cooperation. They interact with the wide spectrum of various public and private sector bodies. All of this is leading to important questions about the future shape of the global governance, also in the area of world financial system.The global financial crisis demonstrated, once again, the need for financial cooperation. The crisis has showed that the problems of modern financial relations are so complex that they exceed the financial and technical capacities of single country acting alone. One of the most important emerging problems is the constitution of institutions involved in the financial cooperation. This is strictly connected with the issue of the financial architecture. The global financial crisis caused the emergence of the new institutional arrangements and the most important is the Group of Twenty (G20). The G20 is perceived as the primary forum for eco- nomic and financial cooperation. It played presumably an import influential role in coordinating efforts in countering the effects of the crisis. The G20 legitimacy, focus, share of responsibilities and the effectiveness are however not unquestioned.This article aims to outline the problem of financial and to assess critically the Group of Twenty activities in the conditions of global financial crisis.The research methodology is based on a literature review, using descriptive and qualitative methods.1. International financial - outline of the problemThe financial is not a new problem in the area of financial relations. However the challenges the has to meet in the 21st century are of growing complexity and unpredictability due to the changes in the global financial system. In the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century the financial relations were characterized by low degree of the coordination of activities. The situation has changed, however, after the World War II. The postwar financial and economic order was based on cooperation. Also on the belief that the lack of such before World War II, led to the disastrous economic policies, monetary chaos, rise of protectionism and had contributed to the Great Depression. Perhaps it even had led to the armed conflict in 1939. The second half of the 20th century was a period of intensification of activities aimed at strengthening the in financial and economic relations (reflected in establishing the institutional framework for based on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank). The end of the last century and at the beginning of the 21st century is especially important and challenging time for financial cooperation. Primarily as a result of the intensification of financial globalization and far-reaching changes in financial systems, which involve growing financial stability risk.The concept of financial appears in literature, however is rarely defined (especially in Polish literature). The literature analysis indicates important definition problems related to the term international financial cooperation (including, in particular the characteristics of its participants and scope). …