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His national and international policies – including the attempted coup five years ago to current moves and statements – undermine both domestic and international law. However, the issue goes deeper.

These actions endanger the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.

The guiding principle of any advanced culture is to prevent the stronger from preying upon and using the weaker. Failing that, we could find ourselves trapped in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest could survive.

This concept lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It is equally the core of the postwar international order championed by the America, built on collective action, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the legal authority.

However, it is a vulnerable construct, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their authority. Upholding it necessitates that the powerful have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.

Unfettered might is not right. It results in turmoil, chaos, and hostilities.

Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are advantaged target and use those that are less so, the fabric of our shared norms frays. Should such behavior are not contained, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.

Our current reality is a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Influence and wealth are more concentrated than in recent memory. This creates conditions for the elite to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they feel omnipotent.

The wealth of a small group of tycoons is difficult to fathom. The influence of global industrial giants spans numerous countries. Advanced technology is could further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the major powers is unprecedented in human history.

Empowered by political allies and a pliant high court, the presidency has been transformed into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in recent memory.

Combine these factors and you see the threat.

An unbroken thread connects earlier breaches of norms to present-day menaces. Each were premised on the overconfidence of omnipotence.

There is a similar pattern in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.

However, unfettered might does not create right. It makes for instability, upended order, and war.

Historical evidence demonstrates that frameworks designed to check the powerful also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for more power and wealth ultimately bring them down – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk international catastrophe.

Such contempt for legal order will cast a long shadow over the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for years to come.