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The domestic and foreign initiatives – ranging from the effort to overturn the election previously to recent moves and threats – undermine both national and global law. However, the issue goes deeper.

They threaten the very concept of a civilized world.

A guiding principle of any advanced culture is to prevent the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Without this, we would be locked in a brutish war where might makes right could survive.

This concept is embedded of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the core of the modern framework of international relations championed by the US, which stresses multilateralism, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.

But, it is a vulnerable principle, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their power. Maintaining it necessitates that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us hold them accountable if they don't.

Unfettered might does not make right. It results in uncertainty, disruption, and hostilities.

Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are weaker, the framework of our shared norms frays. If such aggression are left unchecked, the fabric unravels. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. It has happened before.

Our current reality is a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This encourages the elite to exploit the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.

The fortunes of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of global industrial giants spans numerous countries. Advanced technology is likely to centralize wealth and power further. The military might of the leading countries is unmatched in recorded history.

Supported by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the highest office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked instrument of state power in recent memory.

Consider this confluence and you grasp the threat.

A direct line ties previous transgressions to ongoing menaces. Both were premised on the hubris of invincibility.

One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.

But, unfettered might does not create right. It fosters instability, revolution, and bloodshed.

The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to limit the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for increased control and resources in time bring them down – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for global conflict.

This blatant disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and indeed civilized conduct – for the foreseeable future.