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His national and international strategies – from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to latest incursions and statements – undermine both national and global legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.

These actions endanger the core idea of a civilized world.

A moral purpose of civilized society is to forestall the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Otherwise, we could find ourselves locked in a state of nature where survival of the strongest prevails.

This ideal is central of America’s founding documents. It is equally the heart of the global system established after WWII supported by the US, emphasizing international cooperation, democracy, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

However, it is a vulnerable construct, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their authority. Upholding it requires that the influential have enough integrity to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us hold them accountable if they don't.

Unfettered might is not right. It leads to turmoil, upheaval, and hostilities.

Each instance entities that are richer and more powerful attack and exploit those that are weaker, the structure of society frays. Should such behavior are not contained, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can fall into instability and violence. We have seen this pattern previously.

Today, we live in a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are more concentrated than in modern history. This invites the powerful to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.

The fortunes of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is could consolidate economic and political clout further. The offensive capability of the major powers is unmatched in the annals of time.

Empowered by political allies and a sympathetic judicial body, the executive office has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of the state in history.

Combine these factors and you grasp the looming crisis.

A clear connection ties earlier breaches of norms to ongoing threats. Both were founded upon the arrogance of omnipotence.

One observes parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.

But, raw power does not create right. It makes for instability, upended order, and armed conflict.

Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to constrain the influential also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for increased control and resources in time bring them down – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten international catastrophe.

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