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The domestic and foreign policies – including the attempted coup previously to recent incursions and threats – erode both domestic and international legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

These actions jeopardize the very concept of what we mean by.

The guiding principle of a functioning society is to stop the more powerful from preying upon and using the vulnerable. Failing that, we risk being locked in a state of nature where might makes right prevails.

This concept lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the core of the global system established after WWII supported by the US, which stresses collective action, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a fragile principle, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their authority. Upholding it demands that the those in charge have a sense of duty to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that the public hold them accountable if they don't.

Unchecked strength does not equal right. It makes for uncertainty, upheaval, and war.

Whenever people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are less so, the framework of our shared norms weakens. If such aggression are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a society and world with deepening divides. Authority and resources are more concentrated than ever before. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as untouchable.

The wealth of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over much of the globe. AI is could consolidate wealth and power further. The destructive power of the major powers is unmatched in human history.

Supported by political allies and a pliant judicial body, the executive office has been made into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of the state in the modern era.

Put it all together and you see the danger.

An unbroken thread ties previous transgressions to present-day threats. Both were premised on the hubris of omnipotence.

One observes parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.

Yet, raw power does not make right. It produces instability, upheaval, and armed conflict.

The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to constrain the influential also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth ultimately lead to their downfall – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk global conflict.

This blatant contempt for legal order will haunt the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for the foreseeable future.