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The national and international initiatives – including the challenge to the democratic process previously to current actions and threats – undermine not only national and global law. The implications are broader.

They endanger the core idea of what we mean by.

A ethical foundation of civilized society is to prevent the dominant from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Failing that, we could find ourselves trapped in a brutish war where only the fittest could survive.

This principle lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the heart of the postwar international order advocated by the America, built on multilateralism, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.

Yet, it is a fragile ideal, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their influence. Maintaining it necessitates that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the public hold them accountable should they falter.

Unfettered might does not make right. It makes for instability, chaos, and hostilities.

Whenever individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are less so, the fabric of society unravels. If such aggression are not contained, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can plunge into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.

Today, we live in a global community with deepening divides. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This encourages the privileged to take advantage of the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The resources of a handful of billionaires is staggering. The reach of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers much of the globe. Advanced technology is could centralize economic and political clout further. The offensive capability of the leading countries is without parallel in recorded history.

Empowered by political allies and a pliant supreme court, the presidency has been made into the most dominant and unchecked agent of state power in history.

Consider this confluence and you perceive the threat.

An unbroken thread ties earlier transgressions to current provocations. Both were based on the hubris of invincibility.

One observes parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.

Yet, strength without restraint does not create right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and armed conflict.

The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to check the powerful also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for increased control and resources ultimately lead to their downfall – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten international catastrophe.

This blatant disregard for rules will haunt international stability – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for a long time.