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The domestic and foreign initiatives – ranging from the attempted coup previously to current incursions and threats – weaken not only national and global legal frameworks. The implications are broader.

They jeopardize the core idea of civilization itself.

A ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to stop the dominant from attacking and exploiting the vulnerable. Failing that, we risk being trapped in a conflict of all against all where might makes right prevails.

This ideal is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the heart of the global system established after WWII supported by the America, emphasizing collective action, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.

But, it is a fragile construct, often broken by those who choose to misuse their influence. Preserving it demands that the those in charge have a sense of duty to avoid seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us hold them accountable when they fail.

Unchecked strength does not make right. It results in instability, disruption, and war.

Whenever individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are not, the fabric of society weakens. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the structure collapses. Without intervention, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.

Our current reality is a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Influence and wealth are increasingly centralized than in recent memory. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they act with a sense of untouchable.

The resources of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans much of the globe. Advanced technology is poised to consolidate wealth and power even more. The destructive power of the world's largest nations is unmatched in the annals of time.

Empowered by complicit legislators and a sympathetic judicial body, the highest office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable entity of state power in recent memory.

Consider this confluence and you perceive the danger.

An unbroken thread connects previous lawless actions to current menaces. Both were based on the arrogance of absolute power.

There is parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by massive conglomerates.

Yet, raw power does not make right. It produces instability, upheaval, and armed conflict.

The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to constrain the influential also protect them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth in time bring them down – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten global conflict.

Such disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for a long time.