In an extraordinary intervention, the US forces struck Venezuela and captured the incumbent head of state, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores. Much has been written and spoken about the capture of a sitting president of a sovereign country by a superpower and the many violations of international law and the United Nations Charter. Let us examine the lessons of Venezuela that are relevant to all nations, particularly India, with our collective vision of a developed nation over the next quarter century.

Let us take the military intervention itself first. Clearly, it was a great tactical success. The meticulous planning based on reliable intelligence, the absolute secrecy of the mission, and the flawless execution testify to the power of the United States. But does this tactical success lead to meaningful strategic gains?

There are three strategic goals we can discern from the statements of the voluble Trump and the US administration. First, minimise the flow of addictive drugs into the US and curb substance abuse. By all accounts, Maduro is not the kingpin of drug supply to the US, and it was an exaggerated claim to offer a feeble excuse for the unusual military action.

Maduro's removal is unlikely to stem the flow of drugs. There is a lot of documented evidence and past experience suggesting that without curbing demand, strong law enforcement alone will only increase demand, jack up the price and profits, bring organised crime into drugs, and promote massive corruption at all levels.

The second stated objective of Trump is to........

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