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The domestic and foreign initiatives – ranging from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to latest incursions and statements – undermine not only national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

These actions endanger the core idea of a civilized world.

A ethical foundation of a functioning society is to forestall the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Failing that, we risk being permanently immersed in a brutish war where only the fittest wins.

This principle is central of America’s founding documents. This is also the heart of the postwar international order advocated by the US, emphasizing collective action, democracy, individual liberties, and the legal authority.

However, it is a fragile principle, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their power. Preserving it requires that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the public hold them accountable should they falter.

Unfettered might does not equal right. It results in uncertainty, chaos, and conflict.

Every time entities that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are less so, the fabric of society unravels. If these actions are allowed to continue, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can fall into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.

Our current reality is a global community grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are more concentrated than ever before. This creates conditions for the privileged to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they feel omnipotent.

The wealth of a small group of billionaires is staggering. The reach of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is poised to centralize wealth and power further. The offensive capability of the major powers is without parallel in recorded history.

Supported by complicit legislators and an accommodating judicial body, the presidency has been turned into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in recent memory.

Combine these factors and you perceive the threat.

A direct line links previous transgressions to ongoing menaces. Each were founded upon the arrogance of omnipotence.

One observes parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.

However, unfettered might does not make right. It makes for instability, upended order, and armed conflict.

History shows that frameworks designed to limit the powerful also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth in time cause their collapse – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk world war.

This kind of contempt for legal order will plague international stability – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for years to come.