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His national and international initiatives – ranging from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to current moves and warnings – weaken not only domestic and international jurisprudence. But that’s not all.

These actions threaten the very concept of what we mean by.

A moral purpose of any advanced culture is to stop the dominant from preying upon and using the vulnerable. Otherwise, we risk being trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest prevails.

This ideal lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the heart of the postwar international order supported by the America, emphasizing collective action, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

However, it is a vulnerable construct, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their power. Preserving it necessitates that the influential have enough integrity to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.

Absolute power does not equal right. It results in instability, upheaval, and conflict.

Every time entities that are advantaged prey upon those that are less so, the framework of society weakens. If these actions are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. History provides ample precedent.

Today, we live in a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are more concentrated than in modern history. This encourages the privileged to take advantage of the weaker because they feel untouchable.

The resources of a small group of tycoons is difficult to fathom. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers much of the globe. AI is likely to centralize wealth and power to a greater degree. The destructive power of the leading countries is without parallel in the annals of time.

Enabled by a compliant faction and an accommodating judicial body, the highest office has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of government in the modern era.

Consider this confluence and you see the threat.

An unbroken thread connects past lawless actions to ongoing provocations. These were founded upon the arrogance of absolute power.

There is parallel dynamics in international affairs: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.

But, unfettered might does not establish right. It produces fragility, upended order, and armed conflict.

History shows that rules and conventions to check the powerful also protect them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches in time bring them down – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk global conflict.

Such lawlessness will cast a long shadow over the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.