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The national and international strategies – from the effort to overturn the election in the past to current moves and warnings – weaken both domestic and international jurisprudence. The implications are broader.

These actions jeopardize the core idea of a civilized world.

The ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to forestall the dominant from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Otherwise, we risk being locked in a state of nature where survival of the strongest prevails.

This principle is embedded of America’s founding documents. This is also the heart of the postwar international order supported by the US, emphasizing multilateralism, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a fragile ideal, often broken by those who would exploit their authority. Maintaining it requires that the influential have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking immediate gains, and that society demand responsibility when they fail.

Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to turmoil, upheaval, and hostilities.

Each instance people or corporations or countries that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are less so, the structure of our shared norms frays. If such aggression are left unchecked, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can descend into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are more concentrated than ever before. This creates conditions for the privileged to take advantage of the less fortunate because they act with a sense of above the law.

The resources of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The reach of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over much of the globe. Advanced technology is likely to consolidate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unmatched in recorded history.

Enabled by political allies and an accommodating high court, the presidency has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of government in the modern era.

Combine these factors and you see the looming crisis.

A clear connection ties past breaches of norms to present-day provocations. These were founded upon the hubris of invincibility.

There is parallel dynamics in international affairs: in military conflicts, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.

But, raw power does not create right. It produces uncertainty, upended order, and war.

History shows that laws and norms to constrain the powerful also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth ultimately cause their collapse – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for international catastrophe.

This blatant disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for years to come.