🔗 Share this article

The internal and external strategies – including the attempted coup in the past to recent incursions and statements – undermine both domestic and international jurisprudence. But that’s not all.

They endanger the fundamental meaning of what we mean by.

The moral purpose of civilized society is to stop the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Failing that, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a state of nature where survival of the strongest wins.

This principle lies at the center of America’s founding documents. This is also the core of the modern framework of international relations supported by the United States, built on international cooperation, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the legal authority.

Yet, it is a vulnerable construct, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their authority. Maintaining it necessitates that the powerful have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the public hold them accountable should they falter.

Unchecked strength is not right. It leads to turmoil, disruption, and war.

Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are not, the framework of society unravels. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can fall into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.

We now inhabit a global community marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than ever before. This invites the elite to leverage their position against the disadvantaged because they feel untouchable.

The fortunes of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The influence of global industrial giants extends over a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is could consolidate resources and influence to a greater degree. The military might of the leading countries is unprecedented in recorded history.

Enabled by a compliant faction and an accommodating supreme court, the presidency has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of the state in the modern era.

Consider this confluence and you perceive the looming crisis.

An unbroken thread connects earlier lawless actions to ongoing provocations. Both were based on the hubris of invincibility.

There is a similar pattern in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.

Yet, raw power does not create right. It makes for uncertainty, upheaval, and war.

The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to constrain the powerful also shield them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth ultimately bring them down – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk international catastrophe.

Such lawlessness will cast a long shadow over the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.