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His domestic and foreign policies – including the effort to overturn the election previously to current actions and statements – weaken not only national and global jurisprudence. The implications are broader.

They endanger the very concept of civilization itself.

The moral purpose of any advanced culture is to stop the dominant from attacking and exploiting the less powerful. Failing that, we risk being trapped in a brutish war where only the fittest prevails.

This concept lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. This is also the core of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the US, emphasizing collective action, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.

But, it is a delicate principle, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their authority. Maintaining it requires that the powerful have enough integrity to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that society hold them accountable when they fail.

Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to turmoil, disruption, and conflict.

Each instance entities that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are weaker, the framework of society weakens. If these actions are not contained, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can plunge into instability and violence. It has happened before.

We now inhabit a society and world grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are more concentrated than in modern history. This invites the powerful to exploit the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of above the law.

The resources of certain billionaires is staggering. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over numerous countries. AI is likely to further concentrate resources and influence to a greater degree. The military might of the major powers is unmatched in human history.

Empowered by complicit legislators and a sympathetic supreme court, the presidency has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of government in the modern era.

Put it all together and you see the threat.

A clear connection ties past breaches of norms to current menaces. Each were premised on the arrogance of absolute power.

There is much the same in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in strategic threats, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.

But, strength without restraint does not create right. It fosters fragility, upheaval, and war.

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 – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for global conflict.

This kind of disregard for rules will haunt the nation and the world – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for a long time.