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His domestic and foreign policies – including the attempted coup previously to latest incursions and statements – undermine not only domestic and international law. But that’s not all.

They jeopardize the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.

The guiding principle of any advanced culture is to stop the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Otherwise, we could find ourselves locked in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest wins.

This concept is central of America’s founding documents. This is also the foundation of the modern framework of international relations supported by the United States, emphasizing collective action, popular sovereignty, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.

Yet, it is a vulnerable ideal, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their influence. Preserving it requires that the those in charge have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions should they falter.

Unfettered might does not make right. It makes for turmoil, upheaval, and conflict.

Each instance entities that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are weaker, the fabric of our shared norms unravels. If these actions are allowed to continue, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. It has happened before.

Today, we live in a international landscape marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This encourages the elite to leverage their position against the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as untouchable.

The resources of a handful of tycoons is difficult to fathom. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans numerous countries. AI is poised to consolidate economic and political clout further. The military might of the major powers is without parallel in recorded history.

Empowered by political allies and a sympathetic high court, the highest office has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of government in the modern era.

Combine these factors and you grasp the danger.

An unbroken thread ties past lawless actions to current provocations. Both were founded upon the overconfidence of omnipotence.

One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.

Yet, raw power does not make right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and armed conflict.

Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to check the powerful also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches in time lead to their downfall – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk international catastrophe.

This kind of contempt for legal order will cast a long shadow over international stability – and indeed civilized conduct – for a long time.