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His national and international policies – from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to recent moves and warnings – erode not only national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

These actions threaten the very concept of what we mean by.

A ethical foundation of a functioning society is to prevent the stronger from preying upon and using the vulnerable. Failing that, we could find ourselves trapped in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest could survive.

This ideal is embedded of the nation's founding texts. This is also the core of the postwar international order supported by the United States, which stresses multilateralism, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.

But, it is a vulnerable principle, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their authority. Maintaining it necessitates that the powerful have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking immediate gains, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.

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

Each instance entities that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are less so, the fabric of society weakens. If these actions are not contained, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can fall into disorder and conflict. History provides ample precedent.

Today, we live in a international landscape with deepening divides. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than ever before. This creates conditions for the powerful to leverage their position against the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of above the law.

The resources of a small group of billionaires is almost beyond comprehension. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors spans much of the globe. Advanced technology is could centralize resources and influence even more. The destructive power of the major powers is without parallel in human history.

Enabled by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the highest office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of state power in history.

Consider this confluence and you see the threat.

A direct line connects previous breaches of norms to present-day provocations. Each were based on the overconfidence of omnipotence.

There is a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.

But, unfettered might does not make right. It makes for uncertainty, revolution, and war.

Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to check the influential also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth in time bring them down – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.

This blatant disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over international stability – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.