🔗 Share this article

The domestic and foreign initiatives – ranging from the attempted coup previously to recent moves and statements – erode not only domestic and international law. However, the issue goes deeper.

These actions threaten the very concept of civilization itself.

The guiding principle of any advanced culture is to prevent the dominant from preying upon and using the weaker. Failing that, we risk being trapped in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest could survive.

This ideal lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the heart of the modern framework of international relations supported by the America, emphasizing multilateralism, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a fragile principle, often broken by those who would exploit their power. Upholding it necessitates that the powerful have the moral fortitude to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us hold them accountable should they falter.

Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and conflict.

Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are advantaged attack and exploit those that are weaker, the framework of our shared norms unravels. If such aggression are allowed to continue, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can descend into chaos and war. It has happened before.

Today, we live in a global community marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as above the law.

The resources of a small group of tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over numerous countries. AI is poised to further concentrate economic and political clout to a greater degree. The destructive power of the major powers is unprecedented in the annals of time.

Supported by political allies and a pliant supreme court, the presidency has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of the state in history.

Consider this confluence and you grasp the threat.

A clear connection links earlier transgressions to ongoing provocations. These were premised on the arrogance of absolute power.

One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.

Yet, unfettered might does not make right. It produces uncertainty, upended order, and bloodshed.

History shows that frameworks designed to check the influential also shield them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for increased control and resources in time cause their collapse – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for international catastrophe.

This kind of contempt for legal order will plague international stability – and indeed civilized conduct – for a long time.