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The domestic and foreign initiatives – ranging from the attempted coup five years ago to current moves and statements – erode not only national and global legal frameworks. The implications are broader.

These actions threaten the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.

The ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to forestall the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Failing that, we would be locked in a brutish war where might makes right could survive.

This principle lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the heart of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the America, emphasizing multilateralism, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.

However, it is a fragile principle, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their authority. Upholding it requires that the those in charge have enough integrity to abstain from seeking immediate gains, and that society hold them accountable should they falter.

Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and war.

Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are weaker, the framework of our shared norms weakens. Should such behavior are not contained, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can plunge into chaos and war. It has happened before.

We now inhabit a international landscape with deepening divides. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than ever before. This invites the powerful to exploit the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The fortunes of a handful of billionaires is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over numerous countries. Advanced technology is could centralize resources and influence further. The military might of the world's largest nations is unprecedented in recorded history.

Empowered by political allies and a pliant supreme court, the presidency has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of the state in the modern era.

Consider this confluence and you see the threat.

A direct line connects earlier transgressions to present-day threats. Both were premised on the overconfidence of absolute power.

One observes much the same in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.

But, strength without restraint does not create right. It fosters instability, revolution, and bloodshed.

Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also protect them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for increased control and resources in time bring them down – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten international catastrophe.

This blatant disregard for rules will haunt the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for years to come.