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His internal and external strategies – including the attempted coup in the past to recent moves and warnings – weaken not only national and global law. The implications are broader.

They endanger the very concept of what we mean by.

The ethical foundation of a functioning society is to prevent the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Without this, we risk being trapped in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest prevails.

This concept is central of the nation's founding texts. This is also the core of the global system established after WWII championed by the United States, which stresses international cooperation, democracy, human rights, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a vulnerable construct, often broken by those who would exploit their influence. Maintaining it requires that the influential have a sense of duty to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that society demand responsibility if they don't.

Absolute power does not equal right. It makes for turmoil, disruption, and war.

Each instance people or corporations or countries that are advantaged target and use those that are weaker, the fabric of civilization weakens. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can plunge into instability and violence. It has happened before.

We now inhabit a global community marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are more concentrated than ever before. This invites the powerful to exploit the less fortunate because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The fortunes of certain billionaires is staggering. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over numerous countries. AI is likely to further concentrate resources and influence further. The offensive capability of the world's largest nations is unprecedented in the annals of time.

Empowered by complicit legislators and a pliant high court, the presidency has been transformed into the most dominant and unchecked entity of the state in history.

Put it all together and you perceive the threat.

A clear connection ties previous transgressions to ongoing provocations. Each were based on the overconfidence of omnipotence.

There is parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.

However, raw power does not create right. It produces fragility, revolution, and bloodshed.

Historical evidence demonstrates that frameworks designed to limit the powerful also shield them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources in time lead to their downfall – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten international catastrophe.

Such disregard for rules will plague international stability – and indeed a rules-based order – for the foreseeable future.