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His internal and external initiatives – ranging from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to latest actions and warnings – weaken both national and global law. The implications are broader.

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

The guiding principle of a functioning society is to prevent the more powerful from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Without this, we risk being permanently immersed in a brutish war where survival of the strongest wins.

This ideal is central of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the foundation of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the America, emphasizing collective action, democratic governance, human rights, and the legal authority.

Yet, it is a fragile principle, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their power. Preserving it necessitates that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us demand responsibility when they fail.

Absolute power is not right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and hostilities.

Each instance people or corporations or countries that are advantaged target and use those that are weaker, the framework of society unravels. If such aggression are not contained, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can fall into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than ever before. This invites the powerful to take advantage of the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The fortunes of a small group of billionaires is staggering. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over a vast portion of the world. Advanced technology is likely to centralize resources and influence even more. The destructive power of the leading countries is unprecedented in recorded history.

Supported by complicit legislators and a pliant high court, the presidency has been turned into the most dominant and unchecked agent of government in history.

Combine these factors and you grasp the threat.

A clear connection links earlier lawless actions to present-day provocations. These were founded upon the overconfidence of absolute power.

One observes parallel dynamics in international affairs: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.

Yet, unfettered might does not establish right. It makes for uncertainty, revolution, and bloodshed.

The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to limit the powerful also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for greater influence and riches eventually lead to their downfall – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for global conflict.

Such lawlessness will haunt America and the global community – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for the foreseeable future.