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The internal and external strategies – from the attempted coup previously to recent actions and threats – erode both national and global law. The implications are broader.

These actions threaten the core idea of civilization itself.

A ethical foundation of a functioning society is to stop the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Without this, we risk being permanently immersed in a state of nature where only the fittest could survive.

This principle is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. This is also the heart of the postwar international order advocated by the US, emphasizing multilateralism, democratic governance, human rights, and the legal authority.

However, it is a fragile principle, often broken by those who seek to abuse their influence. Upholding it demands that the powerful have enough integrity to refrain from seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us demand responsibility when they fail.

Unfettered might is not right. It results in uncertainty, chaos, and war.

Whenever entities that are advantaged attack and exploit those that are weaker, the framework of civilization 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.

We now inhabit a global community marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are more concentrated than in recent memory. This invites the powerful to exploit the less fortunate because they feel above the law.

The fortunes of certain billionaires is difficult to fathom. The power of global industrial giants covers numerous countries. AI is could further concentrate economic and political clout even more. The military might of the world's largest nations is without parallel in recorded history.

Supported by a compliant faction and a sympathetic high court, the presidency has been made into the most dominant and unchecked agent of government in recent memory.

Put it all together and you perceive the danger.

An unbroken thread connects previous lawless actions to present-day provocations. Both were founded upon the arrogance of omnipotence.

One observes much the same in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.

However, strength without restraint does not create right. It fosters fragility, revolution, and bloodshed.

Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to check the powerful also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches eventually cause their collapse – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk world war.

This kind of contempt for legal order will cast a long shadow over international stability – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for a long time.