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His national and international policies – from the effort to overturn the election in the past to current moves and statements – undermine both domestic and international jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.

They endanger the core idea of a civilized world.

The guiding principle of civilized society is to prevent the more powerful from preying upon and using the less powerful. Without this, we would be locked in a state of nature where only the fittest wins.

This ideal lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It’s also the heart of the global system established after WWII championed by the US, which stresses collective action, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the legal authority.

However, it is a vulnerable principle, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their influence. Maintaining it necessitates that the powerful have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that society demand responsibility should they falter.

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

Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are weaker, the framework of society unravels. Should such behavior are not contained, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can fall into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.

We now inhabit a global community marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This encourages the privileged to take advantage of the less fortunate because they feel untouchable.

The fortunes of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is poised to further concentrate resources and influence even more. The military might of the world's largest nations is unmatched in recorded history.

Supported by complicit legislators and a sympathetic supreme court, the highest office has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable entity of state power in history.

Combine these factors and you grasp the threat.

A clear connection ties earlier transgressions to present-day menaces. Both were based on the hubris of omnipotence.

There is parallel dynamics in international affairs: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.

Yet, unfettered might does not establish right. It fosters fragility, revolution, and bloodshed.

Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to constrain the powerful also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth in time cause their collapse – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten global conflict.

This blatant lawlessness will plague international stability – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.