The impression is that for our politicians - irrespective of where we are living - this has not been seen as the top priority. It's something to get round to, with an eye on doing enough to get critics off our back, but not really important, not on the scale of something happening on our doorstep.

At least the public response has forced our leaders to significantly raise the level of public help, for fear of being outdone and shamed by the response of ordinary people. Not raising it to the kind of level that is appropriate for the scale of this disaster, but at least something.

That is assuming the promises of aid are actually kept - which normally doesn't in fact happen. Money is diverted from one set of starving people to another, aid budgets are used as a way of subsidising   people back home and so forth.

But in any case it isn't just about money - it's the recognition that this is something that needs the level of total committment which would be involved in a World War. It makes most of our previous disasters, natural or manmade look small by comparison.

And the other thing is, once we have done what is needed to repair the wound in humanity which this has caused, we need to look ahead with a new kind of intelligence and committment.

For years we have been warned that up ahead, sooner or laters, there are disasters on thsi scale or bigger waiting for us - but it gets shrugged off, because likely enough it won't happen in our time, in our corner of the world. So every time there is some disaster, we run around bodging up some kind of improvised solution. We turn away from the difficult task of organising a global system that will be able to move into action when needed.

"Globalisation" may be the word of the age, but it seems it stops at imposing that are tailored to the task of making it easier for the rich to take advantage of the poor, all over the world.