Madam, - Charles Krauthammer (Opinion, April 9th) refers to the "utter futility of those transnational institutions - prominently the European Union and the United Nations - which pretend to maintain international order".
Contrary to the writer's slightly tendentious statement, the EU does not "pretend" to maintain international order; it and its member-states act to support order in concert with other well-intentioned members of the international community. The UN does likewise, though it is hampered by the limitations placed on it by some of its members.
Indeed, one of the most disabling factors in institutional efforts to maintain international order is the fact that neither the US nor Israel, for example, accepts for their own citizens the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. - Yours, etc,
HUGO BRADY BROWN, Stratford on Slaney, Co Wicklow.