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The domestic and foreign initiatives – from the attempted coup in the past to latest moves and warnings – erode both national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

They threaten the core idea of civilization itself.

A ethical foundation of civilized society is to prevent the stronger from attacking and exploiting the less powerful. Failing that, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a state of nature where might makes right wins.

This principle is central of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the core of the postwar international order championed by the America, built on collective action, popular sovereignty, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.

But, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their influence. Maintaining it demands that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that the public demand responsibility when they fail.

Unchecked strength does not equal right. It leads to uncertainty, disruption, and conflict.

Every time people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are weaker, the structure of civilization weakens. If these actions are left unchecked, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a global community with deepening divides. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the weaker because they act with a sense of untouchable.

The fortunes of a small group of billionaires is difficult to fathom. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors spans numerous countries. AI is likely to further concentrate wealth and power further. The military might of the major powers is unprecedented in recorded history.

Enabled by political allies and an accommodating judicial body, the executive office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked entity of government in history.

Consider this confluence and you perceive the looming crisis.

A clear connection ties earlier breaches of norms to ongoing menaces. These were founded upon the arrogance of omnipotence.

You see parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.

Yet, unfettered might does not make right. It makes for fragility, upheaval, and war.

History shows that laws and norms to constrain the influential also protect them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources in time cause their collapse – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for global conflict.

This blatant contempt for legal order will plague the nation and the world – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for a long time.