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The national and international policies – including the attempted coup five years ago to recent incursions and threats – weaken both domestic and international law. The implications are broader.

They jeopardize the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.

A ethical foundation of a functioning society is to stop the more powerful from preying upon and using the weaker. Otherwise, we risk being permanently immersed in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest prevails.

This concept lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It’s also the core of the postwar international order championed by the America, which stresses multilateralism, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.

But, it is a fragile construct, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their influence. Maintaining it demands that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that society hold them accountable if they don't.

Absolute power does not make right. It makes for turmoil, disruption, and conflict.

Every time entities that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are less so, the framework of society unravels. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.

Our current reality is a international landscape marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This invites the powerful to exploit the weaker because they perceive themselves as untouchable.

The wealth of a handful of tycoons is difficult to fathom. The reach of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers much of the globe. AI is could further concentrate wealth and power further. The military might of the leading countries is unmatched in human history.

Empowered by political allies and a pliant supreme court, the executive office has been made into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of the state in recent memory.

Combine these factors and you perceive the looming crisis.

An unbroken thread links previous transgressions to ongoing provocations. Each were premised on the arrogance of absolute power.

One observes much the same in international affairs: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.

Yet, strength without restraint does not create right. It fosters instability, upended order, and war.

History shows that laws and norms to constrain the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches eventually lead to their downfall – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk world war.

This kind of contempt for legal order will plague America and the global community – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for the foreseeable future.