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His internal and external strategies – including the effort to overturn the election in the past to latest moves and threats – weaken not only national and global jurisprudence. The implications are broader.

They endanger the very concept of a civilized world.

The ethical foundation of civilized society is to prevent the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Otherwise, we would be trapped in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest wins.

This ideal is central of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the core of the global system established after WWII supported by the US, which stresses collective action, democracy, individual liberties, and the legal authority.

But, it is a delicate ideal, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their authority. Maintaining it necessitates that the powerful have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the public hold them accountable if they don't.

Absolute power does not equal right. It results in turmoil, chaos, and hostilities.

Each instance people or corporations or countries that are advantaged prey upon those that are weaker, the framework of society frays. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can plunge into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.

Today, we live in a global community marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are increasingly centralized than ever before. This invites the elite to leverage their position against the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.

The fortunes of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is staggering. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers numerous countries. AI is could consolidate resources and influence to a greater degree. The destructive power of the world's largest nations is unprecedented in recorded history.

Enabled by a compliant faction and a pliant supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of state power in history.

Combine these factors and you see the threat.

A clear connection links previous breaches of norms to current provocations. Both were based on the hubris of invincibility.

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

However, strength without restraint does not create right. It produces uncertainty, upheaval, and bloodshed.

The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to check the powerful also shield them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources eventually bring them down – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten global conflict.

This blatant contempt for legal order will plague international stability – and indeed civilization – for the foreseeable future.