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The internal and external strategies – ranging from the challenge to the democratic process in the past to latest actions and statements – erode not only domestic and international jurisprudence. But that’s not all.

These actions endanger the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.

A guiding principle of any advanced culture is to stop the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Without this, we would be trapped in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest prevails.

This concept lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the core of the modern framework of international relations supported by the America, which stresses multilateralism, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

But, it is a delicate ideal, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their authority. Maintaining it requires that the influential have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us demand responsibility should they falter.

Unfettered might is not right. It leads to turmoil, upheaval, and conflict.

Whenever entities that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are not, the fabric of society frays. If these actions are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. History provides ample precedent.

Today, we live in a global community marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This encourages the powerful to exploit the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as untouchable.

The resources of a handful of billionaires is difficult to fathom. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is likely to centralize wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unmatched in the annals of time.

Empowered by political allies and a sympathetic judicial body, the executive office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked instrument of state power in the modern era.

Put it all together and you perceive the threat.

An unbroken thread ties past transgressions to present-day provocations. Both were founded upon the overconfidence of invincibility.

There is much the same in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by massive conglomerates.

But, strength without restraint does not make right. It makes for fragility, revolution, and armed conflict.

History shows that rules and conventions to constrain the powerful also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth in time cause their collapse – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten global conflict.

This blatant contempt for legal order will plague the nation and the world – and indeed civilized conduct – for a long time.