Trump's Approach Pose a Risk to Civilization.
His national and international strategies – from the effort to overturn the election previously to latest incursions and threats – erode not only domestic and international law. However, the issue goes deeper.
They threaten the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.
A moral purpose of civilized society is to prevent the dominant from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Otherwise, we would be locked in a conflict of all against all where might makes right wins.
This principle lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. This is also the foundation of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the US, which stresses collective action, popular sovereignty, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.
Yet, it is a vulnerable construct, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their influence. Upholding it demands that the those in charge have enough integrity to avoid seeking immediate gains, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.
Unchecked strength does not make right. It results in uncertainty, chaos, and conflict.
Whenever entities that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are weaker, the structure of society frays. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can fall into chaos and war. It has happened before.
We now inhabit a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than ever before. This creates conditions for the privileged to take advantage of the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as above the law.
The resources of a handful of billionaires is staggering. The reach of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors spans numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is poised to consolidate economic and political clout to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the leading countries is without parallel in the annals of time.
Empowered by a compliant faction and an accommodating high court, the executive office has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none agent of government in recent memory.
Put it all together and you see the danger.
A direct line ties previous lawless actions to present-day threats. These were premised on the hubris of invincibility.
One observes much the same in international affairs: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.
Yet, unfettered might does not create right. It fosters fragility, revolution, and armed conflict.
The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to check the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth eventually cause their collapse – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk international catastrophe.
This blatant disregard for rules will haunt America and the global community – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.
