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His internal and external policies – ranging from the attempted coup in the past to recent incursions and threats – erode both national and global legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.

These actions endanger the very concept of what we mean by.

A guiding principle of civilized society is to prevent the stronger from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Failing that, we would be trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest wins.

This concept is central of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the heart of the postwar international order supported by the America, built on collective action, democracy, human rights, and the supremacy of law.

However, it is a vulnerable ideal, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their power. Preserving it necessitates that the powerful have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions should they falter.

Unchecked strength does not make right. It makes for uncertainty, disruption, and conflict.

Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are weaker, the structure of our shared norms frays. If such aggression are left unchecked, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can fall into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a global community grown vastly more unequal. Influence and wealth are more concentrated than in recent memory. This encourages the powerful to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.

The fortunes of certain tycoons is staggering. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over much of the globe. Advanced technology is poised to centralize resources and influence to a greater degree. The military might of the leading countries is without parallel in the annals of time.

Enabled by a compliant faction and an accommodating high court, the presidency has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of the state in recent memory.

Put it all together and you perceive the looming crisis.

A clear connection ties past transgressions to current threats. Both were founded upon the hubris of absolute power.

There is parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.

Yet, unfettered might does not establish right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and armed conflict.

Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to check the powerful also protect them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for more power and wealth ultimately lead to their downfall – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk global conflict.

This kind of contempt for legal order will cast a long shadow over the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for a long time.