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His internal and external policies – including the challenge to the democratic process previously to current moves and threats – undermine not only domestic and international legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.

These actions jeopardize the core idea of a civilized world.

A ethical foundation of civilized society is to forestall the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Without this, we would be permanently immersed in a state of nature where survival of the strongest could survive.

This ideal is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the foundation of the global system established after WWII advocated by the United States, which stresses collective action, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.

Yet, it is a vulnerable construct, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their influence. Upholding it requires that the influential have enough integrity to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.

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

Whenever entities that are advantaged prey upon those that are less so, the structure of society frays. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the structure collapses. Without intervention, the world can fall into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.

Our current reality is a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are increasingly centralized than ever before. This creates conditions for the powerful to exploit the disadvantaged because they feel untouchable.

The wealth of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans a vast portion of the world. Advanced technology is poised to further concentrate wealth and power further. The offensive capability of the major powers is without parallel in human history.

Supported by complicit legislators and an accommodating supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of state power in recent memory.

Put it all together and you perceive the threat.

A direct line connects past transgressions to ongoing provocations. Both were based on the hubris of absolute power.

You see much the same in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.

However, strength without restraint does not establish right. It fosters uncertainty, upended order, and bloodshed.

Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to check the influential also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches ultimately bring them down – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for world war.

Such disregard for rules will plague the nation and the world – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for the foreseeable future.