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His national and international policies – ranging from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to current moves and statements – weaken not only domestic and international legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

These actions jeopardize the core idea of a civilized world.

The ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to prevent the dominant from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Otherwise, we risk being permanently immersed in a state of nature where only the fittest prevails.

This ideal is central of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the foundation of the postwar international order supported by the United States, built on international cooperation, popular sovereignty, human rights, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a fragile principle, often broken by those who choose to misuse their authority. Preserving it requires that the those in charge have enough integrity to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that society demand responsibility when they fail.

Unfettered might is not right. It results in uncertainty, disruption, and war.

Every time entities that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are weaker, the framework of our shared norms weakens. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can plunge into instability and violence. We have seen this pattern previously.

Today, we live in a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are more concentrated than in recent memory. This creates conditions for the elite to exploit the less fortunate because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The resources of certain tycoons is difficult to fathom. The power of global industrial giants spans a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is likely to further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the world's largest nations is unmatched in human history.

Supported by political allies and an accommodating judicial body, the highest office has been made into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of the state in the modern era.

Consider this confluence and you perceive the threat.

A clear connection connects earlier lawless actions to ongoing menaces. Both were based on the overconfidence of omnipotence.

You see a similar pattern in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by massive conglomerates.

Yet, raw power does not create right. It makes for instability, revolution, and bloodshed.

History shows that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches eventually lead to their downfall – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten international catastrophe.

This blatant lawlessness will haunt the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilization – for a long time.