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His internal and external initiatives – from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to recent moves and threats – weaken not only national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

They jeopardize the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.

The guiding principle of any advanced culture is to forestall the more powerful from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Without this, we would be permanently immersed in a conflict of all against all where might makes right prevails.

This concept is central of America’s founding documents. This is also the foundation of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the America, emphasizing collective action, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

Yet, it is a delicate principle, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their influence. Maintaining it necessitates that the influential have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us demand responsibility when they fail.

Unfettered might does not equal right. It makes for turmoil, upheaval, and conflict.

Each instance entities that are advantaged target and use those that are less so, the framework of our shared norms unravels. If such aggression are not contained, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can fall into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.

Our current reality is a global community marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This encourages the powerful to take advantage of the weaker because they feel above the law.

The wealth of a small group of tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers a vast portion of the world. AI is likely to consolidate economic and political clout to a greater degree. The destructive power of the major powers is unmatched in recorded history.

Supported by political allies and a pliant supreme court, the highest office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in the modern era.

Combine these factors and you see the looming crisis.

An unbroken thread links past lawless actions to current threats. Both were based on the hubris of invincibility.

One observes parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.

However, raw power does not establish right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and armed conflict.

Historical evidence demonstrates that frameworks designed to constrain the powerful also shield them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for increased control and resources eventually cause their collapse – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for global conflict.

Such lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and the very idea of civilization – for years to come.