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His internal and external strategies – ranging from the attempted coup previously to recent moves and warnings – weaken both national and global law. However, the issue goes deeper.

These actions jeopardize the core idea of a civilized world.

A ethical foundation of civilized society is to prevent the dominant from preying upon and using the weaker. Failing that, we risk being trapped in a brutish war where survival of the strongest wins.

This principle is embedded of America’s founding documents. It’s also the heart of the modern framework of international relations supported by the US, which stresses international cooperation, democratic governance, human rights, and the legal authority.

But, it is a vulnerable principle, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their power. Preserving it requires that the influential have a sense of duty to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us hold them accountable should they falter.

Unfettered might is not right. It results in turmoil, upheaval, and war.

Whenever people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are less so, the fabric of society frays. If such aggression are not contained, the structure collapses. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are more concentrated than ever before. This invites the elite to exploit the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The wealth of certain billionaires is staggering. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is could consolidate economic and political clout even more. The military might of the leading countries is unmatched in human history.

Enabled by complicit legislators and an accommodating judicial body, the presidency has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of state power in history.

Combine these factors and you perceive the looming crisis.

A direct line links previous breaches of norms to current provocations. Both were based on the arrogance of absolute power.

You see parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.

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

The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to check the influential also protect them. Without such constraints, their endless appetite for more power and wealth ultimately lead to their downfall – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for global conflict.

This blatant lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for years to come.