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The internal and external initiatives – from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to recent incursions and threats – undermine both domestic and international law. The implications are broader.

These actions threaten the core idea of civilization itself.

The moral purpose of any advanced culture is to stop the stronger from preying upon and using the weaker. Otherwise, we risk being locked in a state of nature where survival of the strongest wins.

This principle is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. This is also the foundation of the postwar international order supported by the America, built on international cooperation, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

But, it is a fragile principle, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their power. Upholding it requires that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that society hold them accountable when they fail.

Unchecked strength does not make right. It leads to turmoil, upheaval, and conflict.

Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are less so, the structure of civilization unravels. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can plunge into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.

Today, we live in a society and world with deepening divides. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than ever before. This invites the powerful to exploit the disadvantaged because they feel above the law.

The wealth of certain tycoons is staggering. The reach of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over much of the globe. Advanced technology is likely to further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The military might of the world's largest nations is without parallel in the annals of time.

Supported by political allies and a sympathetic judicial body, the presidency has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of the state in recent memory.

Put it all together and you perceive the looming crisis.

An unbroken thread links previous transgressions to current menaces. Each were based on the overconfidence of invincibility.

One observes much the same in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.

But, unfettered might does not establish right. It produces instability, upheaval, and war.

The lessons of the past reveal that frameworks designed to limit the powerful also protect them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth in time cause their collapse – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.

This blatant lawlessness will plague the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for a long time.