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His internal and external strategies – including the attempted coup five years ago to recent actions and threats – undermine both domestic and international legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

These actions endanger the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.

The ethical foundation of a functioning society is to forestall the dominant from attacking and exploiting the less powerful. Otherwise, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a state of nature where survival of the strongest wins.

This ideal is embedded of America’s founding documents. It’s also the foundation of the global system established after WWII supported by the US, which stresses collective action, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a vulnerable principle, often broken by those who would exploit their influence. Maintaining it demands that the those in charge have enough integrity to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that the public demand responsibility when they fail.

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

Each instance entities that are richer and more powerful attack and exploit those that are weaker, the fabric of society frays. If such aggression are not contained, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can fall into chaos and war. It has happened before.

Our current reality is a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than ever before. This creates conditions for the powerful to take advantage of the less fortunate because they feel untouchable.

The fortunes of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers a vast portion of the world. Advanced technology is likely to consolidate economic and political clout even more. The military might of the major powers is unmatched in recorded history.

Empowered by complicit legislators and a sympathetic supreme court, the highest office has been turned into the most dominant and unchecked instrument of government in recent memory.

Combine these factors and you grasp the danger.

A clear connection links previous lawless actions to ongoing menaces. Both were premised on the overconfidence of absolute power.

There is a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by massive conglomerates.

However, strength without restraint does not create right. It produces instability, revolution, and armed conflict.

Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to check the influential also protect them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth eventually lead to their downfall – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk international catastrophe.

This blatant contempt for legal order will haunt international stability – and the very idea of civilization – for the foreseeable future.