Once we recognize how vulnerable all of the world is to this kind of descent into violence, the importance of international law and international institutions such as the United Nations become all the more obvious. The UN successfully resisted the powerful pressures of the US to condone a war with Iraq despite repeated US claims, now known to be false, that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction.
任何国家在道德上高人一等、或被庄严地推举为国家领袖的想法都是危险的。一旦我们意识到世界各国面临这种暴力堕落时的脆弱，国际法和联合国那样的国际机构就变得更为重要。尽管美国一再申请，联合国还是成功抵制了来自美国的强大压力，没有宽恕对伊战争。现在我们知道美国污蔑伊拉克拥有大规模杀伤性武器的借口根本不成立。联合国程序功效卓著，是美国的政策令人失望。