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His national and international policies – including the attempted coup five years ago to recent incursions and threats – weaken both national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

These actions jeopardize the core idea of what we mean by.

The moral purpose of any advanced culture is to prevent the stronger from attacking and exploiting the less powerful. Without this, we risk being trapped in a brutish war where only the fittest wins.

This principle lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the foundation of the modern framework of international relations supported by the US, built on collective action, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.

Yet, it is a fragile construct, often broken by those who choose to misuse their power. Maintaining it necessitates that the influential have a sense of duty to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that the public demand responsibility if they don't.

Unfettered might is not right. It makes for turmoil, disruption, and conflict.

Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are less so, the fabric of our shared norms weakens. If these actions are allowed to continue, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can fall into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a international landscape marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This invites the elite to exploit the less fortunate because they act with a sense of above the law.

The wealth of a handful of tycoons is staggering. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers numerous countries. Advanced technology is likely to further concentrate wealth and power even more. The destructive power of the leading countries is unmatched in recorded history.

Enabled by a compliant faction and a pliant high court, the highest office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of government in history.

Consider this confluence and you perceive the threat.

An unbroken thread links past breaches of norms to present-day threats. These were premised on the arrogance of invincibility.

There is much the same in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.

But, raw power does not create right. It makes for fragility, revolution, and armed conflict.

History shows that laws and norms to check the powerful also protect them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources in time bring them down – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk world war.

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