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The internal and external strategies – from the effort to overturn the election previously to latest moves and warnings – weaken both national and global law. But that’s not all.

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

The moral purpose of civilized society is to prevent the more powerful from preying upon and using the weaker. Without this, we risk being trapped in a brutish war where might makes right prevails.

This ideal is central of the nation's founding texts. This is also the heart of the postwar international order championed by the United States, emphasizing multilateralism, popular sovereignty, human rights, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a fragile ideal, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their power. Maintaining it demands that the influential have a sense of duty to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us demand responsibility should they falter.

Unchecked strength does not equal right. It leads to uncertainty, upheaval, and hostilities.

Every time entities that are advantaged attack and exploit those that are weaker, the framework of society unravels. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can descend into instability and violence. We have seen this pattern previously.

Our current reality is a international landscape with deepening divides. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than ever before. This encourages the powerful to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as above the law.

The wealth of a handful of billionaires is almost beyond comprehension. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is poised to further concentrate resources and influence to a greater degree. The destructive power of the leading countries is unmatched in human history.

Enabled by political allies and an accommodating high court, the highest office has been made into the most powerful and unaccountable entity of state power in the modern era.

Put it all together and you grasp the threat.

A direct line connects past breaches of norms to current threats. These were founded upon the arrogance of absolute power.

There is much the same in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in strategic threats, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.

Yet, raw power does not create right. It produces uncertainty, upended order, and bloodshed.

The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to check the influential also shield them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for greater influence and riches in time lead to their downfall – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for world war.

Such disregard for rules will plague international stability – and the very idea of civilization – for years to come.