🔗 Share this article

The domestic and foreign policies – from the attempted coup previously to latest moves and warnings – erode both national and global law. The implications are broader.

These actions jeopardize the core idea of what we mean by.

The guiding principle of civilized society is to prevent the more powerful from preying upon and using the less powerful. Failing that, we risk being trapped in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest wins.

This concept lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It’s also the foundation of the global system established after WWII advocated by the United States, which stresses collective action, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the legal authority.

However, it is a delicate construct, often broken by those who would exploit their power. Maintaining it necessitates that the powerful have a sense of duty to avoid seeking immediate gains, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions should they falter.

Unchecked strength does not equal right. It makes for turmoil, chaos, and conflict.

Whenever individuals, companies, or nations that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are weaker, the framework of civilization unravels. If these actions are left unchecked, the fabric unravels. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.

We now inhabit a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This encourages the powerful to take advantage of the less fortunate because they feel above the law.

The wealth of certain tycoons is staggering. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is could centralize wealth and power to a greater degree. The military might of the leading countries is without parallel in the annals of time.

Enabled by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the highest office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of state power in recent memory.

Consider this confluence and you grasp the danger.

A clear connection links earlier lawless actions to current menaces. Each were based on the arrogance of omnipotence.

There is parallel dynamics in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.

Yet, unfettered might does not establish right. It makes for instability, upended order, and war.

Historical evidence demonstrates that frameworks designed to limit the powerful also shield them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches eventually lead to their downfall – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk global conflict.

This blatant contempt for legal order will cast a long shadow over the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for a long time.