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His internal and external initiatives – from the attempted coup five years ago to current incursions and warnings – undermine both national and global jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.

They endanger the very concept of civilization itself.

The guiding principle of civilized society is to prevent the more powerful from attacking and exploiting the less powerful. Otherwise, we could find ourselves trapped in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest prevails.

This ideal is embedded of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the core of the modern framework of international relations championed by the America, which stresses international cooperation, democracy, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

Yet, it is a delicate construct, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their authority. Upholding it requires that the influential have enough integrity to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that society hold them accountable when they fail.

Absolute power does not equal right. It results in instability, disruption, and war.

Whenever entities that are advantaged prey upon those that are not, the structure of civilization weakens. If such aggression are not contained, the structure collapses. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into instability and violence. It has happened before.

Today, we live in a international landscape marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This creates conditions for the powerful to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as untouchable.

The fortunes of certain tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers numerous countries. Advanced technology is could centralize resources and influence to a greater degree. The destructive power of the major powers is unmatched in recorded history.

Empowered by complicit legislators and a sympathetic high court, the highest office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in recent memory.

Combine these factors and you see the danger.

A clear connection links past transgressions to present-day threats. These were premised on the overconfidence of absolute power.

You see much the same in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.

However, raw power does not make right. It produces fragility, upheaval, and war.

History shows that frameworks designed to constrain the influential also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their endless appetite for increased control and resources eventually lead to their downfall – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten world war.

This kind of disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for a long time.