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His internal and external strategies – ranging from the effort to overturn the election previously to current incursions and warnings – erode both national and global jurisprudence. The implications are broader.

They endanger the very concept of what we mean by.

A guiding principle of any advanced culture is to stop the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Failing that, we would be permanently immersed in a state of nature where might makes right wins.

This concept is central of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the core of the postwar international order advocated by the United States, emphasizing international cooperation, popular sovereignty, human rights, and the rule of law.

But, it is a vulnerable principle, easily violated by those who would exploit their influence. Maintaining it demands that the those in charge have enough integrity to abstain from seeking short-term wins, 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, chaos, and conflict.

Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are not, the framework of society frays. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.

Today, we live in a international landscape with deepening divides. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This invites the elite to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they feel above the law.

The resources of certain tycoons is staggering. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over a vast portion of the world. Advanced technology is could centralize wealth and power to a greater degree. The military might of the major powers is unprecedented in human history.

Enabled by complicit legislators and an accommodating supreme court, the highest office has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of government in the modern era.

Put it all together and you perceive the threat.

A direct line connects earlier transgressions to present-day provocations. Each were based on the hubris of omnipotence.

One observes parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.

Yet, unfettered might does not create right. It fosters fragility, upheaval, and armed conflict.

The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to constrain the influential also protect them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches eventually lead to their downfall – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for international catastrophe.

This kind of lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and indeed civilized conduct – for years to come.