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His national and international policies – from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to recent actions and warnings – undermine both national and global law. But that’s not all.

They threaten the core idea of what we mean by.

The ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to prevent the dominant from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Failing that, we risk being permanently immersed in a state of nature where only the fittest prevails.

This concept is central of America’s founding documents. It’s also the core of the modern framework of international relations supported by the United States, emphasizing multilateralism, popular sovereignty, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a fragile principle, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their influence. Preserving it demands that the those in charge have enough integrity to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the public hold them accountable when they fail.

Absolute power does not make right. It makes for turmoil, chaos, and hostilities.

Each instance people or corporations or countries that are advantaged attack and exploit those that are weaker, the structure of civilization frays. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the structure collapses. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.

Today, we live in a global community grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in recent memory. This creates conditions for the powerful to exploit the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as above the law.

The fortunes of certain billionaires is staggering. The reach of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors spans numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is could consolidate wealth and power to a greater degree. The military might of the world's largest nations is unprecedented in recorded history.

Empowered by political allies and a pliant high court, the executive office has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of government in recent memory.

Consider this confluence and you grasp the danger.

A clear connection ties past transgressions to ongoing threats. These were based on the hubris of absolute power.

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

However, raw power does not make right. It fosters uncertainty, upended order, and bloodshed.

The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth eventually bring them down – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for global conflict.

This blatant contempt for legal order will haunt America and the global community – and indeed civilized conduct – for the foreseeable future.