The Former President's Approach Constitute a Threat to Civilized Society.
His internal and external strategies – from the attempted coup five years ago to current incursions and warnings – weaken both domestic and international jurisprudence. The implications are broader.
These actions jeopardize the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.
The guiding principle of civilized society is to prevent the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Otherwise, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a conflict of all against all where might makes right could survive.
This concept is embedded of the nation's founding texts. This is also the heart of the modern framework of international relations championed by the United States, emphasizing international cooperation, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
But, it is a vulnerable construct, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their power. Maintaining it necessitates that the influential have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that society ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.
Unfettered might does not make right. It results in uncertainty, disruption, and conflict.
Every time people or corporations or countries that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are not, the fabric of society weakens. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the fabric unravels. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. History provides ample precedent.
Our current reality is a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than ever before. This invites the privileged to exploit the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as untouchable.
The fortunes of a handful of tycoons is staggering. The influence of global industrial giants covers much of the globe. Advanced technology is poised to further concentrate wealth and power further. The offensive capability of the major powers is without parallel in recorded history.
Empowered by a compliant faction and an accommodating judicial body, the executive office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in the modern era.
Combine these factors and you perceive the looming crisis.
An unbroken thread ties past transgressions to ongoing menaces. Each were based on the hubris of omnipotence.
There is a similar pattern in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.
Yet, raw power does not establish right. It makes for uncertainty, revolution, and bloodshed.
The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to check the influential also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth ultimately cause their collapse – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten global conflict.
Such disregard for rules will haunt international stability – and indeed civilization – for a long time.
