Donald Trump's Policies Constitute a Risk to Civilized Society.

His national and international initiatives – including the challenge to the democratic process previously to latest actions and threats – erode not only national and global law. The implications are broader.

These actions threaten the core idea of civilization itself.

A ethical foundation of civilized society is to stop the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Without this, we would be trapped in a brutish war where might makes right wins.

This ideal is embedded of America’s founding documents. This is also the heart of the global system established after WWII advocated by the US, built on multilateralism, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.

However, it is a delicate ideal, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their authority. Preserving it demands that the powerful have enough integrity to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.

Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to uncertainty, disruption, and war.

Whenever people or corporations or countries that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are weaker, the structure of civilization weakens. If these actions are not contained, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. History provides ample precedent.

Our current reality is a international landscape with deepening divides. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This creates conditions for the powerful to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as above the law.

The wealth of certain billionaires is difficult to fathom. The reach of global industrial giants extends over a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is poised to centralize resources and influence further. The destructive power of the world's largest nations is unmatched in the annals of time.

Empowered by a compliant faction and an accommodating judicial body, the executive office has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of state power in the modern era.

Put it all together and you see the looming crisis.

A clear connection links previous transgressions to present-day menaces. Each were founded upon the arrogance of absolute power.

You see much the same in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.

But, strength without restraint does not create right. It produces fragility, upheaval, and armed conflict.

The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to limit the influential also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches eventually lead to their downfall – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.

Such contempt for legal order will haunt international stability – and the very idea of civilization – for years to come.