🔗 Share this article

His national and international strategies – ranging from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to current moves and statements – undermine both national and global jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.

These actions jeopardize the core idea of a civilized world.

A moral purpose of a functioning society is to prevent the stronger from preying upon and using the less powerful. Without this, we would be permanently immersed in a state of nature where only the fittest wins.

This ideal is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the heart of the modern framework of international relations supported by the America, which stresses collective action, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.

However, it is a fragile construct, often broken by those who seek to abuse their authority. Upholding it necessitates that the influential have a sense of duty to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that the public demand responsibility when they fail.

Unchecked strength does not equal right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and war.

Whenever individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are weaker, the fabric of society frays. Should such behavior are not contained, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can fall into chaos and war. It has happened before.

We now inhabit a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are more concentrated than ever before. This creates conditions for the elite to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of above the law.

The resources of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The power of global industrial giants extends over a vast portion of the world. Advanced technology is could consolidate wealth and power further. The destructive power of the world's largest nations is unmatched in the annals of time.

Enabled by a compliant faction and an accommodating supreme court, the highest office has been turned into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in recent memory.

Combine these factors and you perceive the danger.

An unbroken thread links previous transgressions to ongoing threats. Both were founded upon the arrogance of invincibility.

One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.

Yet, raw power does not establish right. It makes for uncertainty, upended order, and armed conflict.

The lessons of the past reveal that frameworks designed to check the powerful also protect them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources ultimately bring them down – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten global conflict.

This blatant lawlessness will plague international stability – and indeed civilized conduct – for years to come.