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His national and international strategies – from the attempted coup previously to recent moves and warnings – erode not only national and global jurisprudence. The implications are broader.

They threaten the very concept of civilization itself.

The ethical foundation of civilized society is to stop the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Failing that, we risk being permanently immersed in a brutish war where survival of the strongest wins.

This concept is central of the Declaration and Constitution. This is also the foundation of the postwar international order supported by the US, which stresses collective action, democracy, human rights, and the legal authority.

Yet, it is a vulnerable principle, often broken by those who choose to misuse their influence. Upholding it demands that the powerful have a sense of duty to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the public demand responsibility if they don't.

Absolute power does not make right. It results in uncertainty, disruption, and war.

Every time entities that are richer and more powerful attack and exploit those that are not, the structure of society weakens. If such aggression are left unchecked, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.

Our current reality is a global community marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are increasingly centralized than in recent memory. This invites the privileged to exploit the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as above the law.

The wealth of a handful of tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans a vast portion of the world. Advanced technology is likely to centralize wealth and power to a greater degree. The military might of the major powers is unmatched in human history.

Enabled by a compliant faction and a sympathetic supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of government in history.

Consider this confluence and you perceive the looming crisis.

A direct line connects past breaches of norms to current threats. These were premised on the overconfidence of absolute power.

There is parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.

However, unfettered might does not create right. It fosters uncertainty, revolution, and armed conflict.

History shows that frameworks designed to constrain the powerful also protect them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth ultimately cause their collapse – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for world war.

This blatant contempt for legal order will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and indeed civilized conduct – for the foreseeable future.