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His internal and external policies – including the effort to overturn the election previously to recent actions and threats – undermine both domestic and international jurisprudence. The implications are broader.

These actions threaten the core idea of civilization itself.

A guiding principle of civilized society is to forestall the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Failing that, we could find ourselves locked in a brutish war where survival of the strongest prevails.

This concept is central of the Declaration and Constitution. This is also the heart of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the United States, built on collective action, democratic governance, human rights, and the supremacy of law.

However, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their authority. Upholding it requires that the powerful have enough integrity to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.

Absolute power does not make right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and war.

Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are advantaged attack and exploit those that are less so, the fabric of our shared norms frays. If such aggression are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Allowing it to persist, the world can fall into instability and violence. We have seen this pattern previously.

Our current reality is a international landscape marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are more concentrated than ever before. This encourages the elite to exploit the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.

The fortunes of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is staggering. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers a vast portion of the world. AI is could consolidate resources and influence even more. The destructive power of the leading countries is unmatched in recorded history.

Empowered by political allies and a pliant judicial body, the executive office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked agent of state power in recent memory.

Consider this confluence and you see the looming crisis.

A clear connection ties previous lawless actions to current menaces. These were founded upon the overconfidence of absolute power.

You see parallel dynamics in international affairs: in military conflicts, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.

However, strength without restraint does not create right. It fosters instability, upheaval, and armed conflict.

Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also shield them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for increased control and resources in time cause their collapse – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk international catastrophe.

This blatant disregard for rules will haunt the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.