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The internal and external strategies – from the attempted coup five years ago to latest incursions and warnings – undermine both domestic and international law. However, the issue goes deeper.

They jeopardize the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.

A ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to stop the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Failing that, we would be permanently immersed in a state of nature where survival of the strongest wins.

This ideal is central of the nation's founding texts. This is also the core of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the US, built on multilateralism, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.

Yet, it is a fragile ideal, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their power. Upholding it requires that the powerful have enough integrity to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that society ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.

Unfettered might does not make right. It results in turmoil, upheaval, and hostilities.

Every time entities that are advantaged target and use those that are not, the fabric of society weakens. If these actions are not contained, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can plunge into chaos and war. It has happened before.

We now inhabit a global community grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The resources of a handful of billionaires is staggering. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is likely to further concentrate resources and influence to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unprecedented in human history.

Supported by political allies and a sympathetic judicial body, the executive office has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of the state in the modern era.

Put it all together and you see the threat.

A direct line ties past breaches of norms to present-day menaces. Both were founded upon the arrogance of absolute power.

One observes much the same in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by massive conglomerates.

Yet, raw power does not establish right. It produces uncertainty, upheaval, and armed conflict.

History shows that frameworks designed to check the powerful also protect them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches in time cause their collapse – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.

This kind of disregard for rules will haunt international stability – and indeed civilized conduct – for a long time.