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His national and international policies – including the effort to overturn the election previously to recent moves and warnings – undermine not only domestic and international law. The implications are broader.

These actions jeopardize the core idea of a civilized world.

A ethical foundation of a functioning society is to prevent the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Otherwise, we could find ourselves trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest wins.

This ideal is central of America’s founding documents. It is equally the foundation of the postwar international order supported by the US, which stresses multilateralism, democratic governance, human rights, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their influence. Upholding it demands that the powerful have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that society ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.

Absolute power is not right. It leads to turmoil, chaos, and conflict.

Each instance entities that are richer and more powerful attack and exploit those that are not, the fabric of society unravels. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can descend into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.

We now inhabit a global community with deepening divides. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This encourages the privileged to take advantage of the weaker because they act with a sense of untouchable.

The resources of a small group of tycoons is difficult to fathom. The reach of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors spans much of the globe. Advanced technology is poised to consolidate resources and influence even more. The military might of the leading countries is unmatched in human history.

Empowered by a compliant faction and a sympathetic high court, the highest office has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of government in the modern era.

Put it all together and you perceive the threat.

A clear connection ties previous breaches of norms to current menaces. Each were premised on the arrogance of omnipotence.

One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.

However, strength without restraint does not make right. It produces instability, upheaval, and war.

The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to constrain the powerful also protect them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources ultimately cause their collapse – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for global conflict.

Such lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.