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His domestic and foreign policies – including the effort to overturn the election five years ago to recent moves and threats – weaken both national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.

These actions threaten the very concept of civilization itself.

The ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to forestall the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Failing that, we risk being locked in a state of nature where might makes right prevails.

This concept is central of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the foundation of the modern framework of international relations championed by the United States, built on multilateralism, popular sovereignty, human rights, and the supremacy of law.

However, it is a fragile construct, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their power. Upholding it necessitates that the influential have the moral fortitude to refrain from seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us hold them accountable if they don't.

Unchecked strength does not equal right. It results in uncertainty, upheaval, and conflict.

Every time entities that are advantaged prey upon those that are less so, the framework of our shared norms frays. If these actions are not contained, the structure collapses. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. It has happened before.

Our current reality is a global community marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than ever before. This invites the powerful to leverage their position against the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The fortunes of a small group of billionaires is staggering. The influence of global industrial giants extends over much of the globe. AI is likely to centralize resources and influence further. The offensive capability of the world's largest nations is unmatched in human history.

Supported by complicit legislators and a pliant supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of government in the modern era.

Put it all together and you grasp the looming crisis.

A direct line links past lawless actions to current threats. Both were founded upon the overconfidence of omnipotence.

One observes much the same in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.

However, raw power does not make right. It makes for instability, upended order, and war.

Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also shield them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for greater influence and riches ultimately cause their collapse – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.

This kind of lawlessness will haunt America and the global community – and indeed civilization – for a long time.