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The national and international initiatives – including the effort to overturn the election previously to recent actions and statements – erode both national and global law. The implications are broader.

These actions threaten the fundamental meaning of what we mean by.

The ethical foundation of civilized society is to forestall the dominant from preying upon and using the weaker. Failing that, we would be locked in a state of nature where only the fittest could survive.

This principle is central of America’s founding documents. This is also the foundation of the postwar international order championed by the America, built on international cooperation, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the legal authority.

But, it is a vulnerable principle, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their authority. Upholding it requires that the those in charge have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that society hold them accountable when they fail.

Unfettered might is not right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and war.

Whenever individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are less so, the fabric of our shared norms frays. If such aggression are left unchecked, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can descend into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than ever before. This encourages the privileged to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they feel omnipotent.

The resources of a handful of tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The reach of global industrial giants covers numerous countries. AI is likely to consolidate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the major powers is unmatched in the annals of time.

Supported by complicit legislators and a pliant supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of the state in history.

Consider this confluence and you see the threat.

An unbroken thread connects previous lawless actions to present-day threats. Each were based on the arrogance of absolute power.

One observes parallel dynamics in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.

But, unfettered might does not establish right. It fosters fragility, revolution, and bloodshed.

Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to check the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches eventually lead to their downfall – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten global conflict.

This kind of disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over international stability – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for the foreseeable future.