The USA today: a derangement threatening the World |
The response to events in Venezuela exposes how breaches of international law are absorbed, reframed, and normalised – and what that reveals about power, decadence, and global silence.
People around the world walked into 2026 carrying a fragile hope that this year would be better than 2025 and 2024, years defined by the horrific genocide in Gaza. After two years marked by genocide, the collapse of moral restraint, and the reckless shredding of international law, there was a quiet desire to believe that dehumanising actions had reached their limit. Fatigue itself became optimism. Surely the system would pause. Surely something had been learned.
That hope lasted barely a week.
The attack on Venezuela on 3 January arrived as confirmation. The coercive removal of a head of state through kidnapping. A clear breach of international law. Executed calmly, justified procedurally, absorbed with disturbing ease.
The world reacted with surprise but not fury. Partly because it has seen this movie before – a telling reminder of humanity’s inured psychological state. Many have almost given up on the possibility of a better future and resigned themselves to growing global lawlessness.
That distinction matters. Outrage enforces norms. Shock without consequence merely rehearses impunity. When illegality triggers analysis instead of cost, it becomes precedent. This is how gangster logic enters global politics: not through chaos, but through repetition.
This was not a failure of the international order. It was the order functioning exactly as designed by the mob masquerading as guardians of the global order.
Western analysts and media moved quickly – remember Iraq – to make the event legible, reasonable, and ultimately forgettable.
The dominant framings were familiar.
First, energy discipline. Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, are described as “mismanaged,” belonging to the US because it was an early investor. Intervention is implied as corrective rather than coercive. Sovereignty gives way to “global energy stability.” (“ Trump Says US Is Taking Control of Venezuela’s Oil Reserves. Here’s What It Means.' CNN Business, January 4, 2026.)
Second, regional stability. Commentators warn of refugee flows, cartel violence, and spillover risk. The United States is framed as a reluctant stabiliser and even a force for good.
Third, geopolitical objectives and hegemony masquerading as law enforcement. Comparisons are drawn to counter-narcotics operations. The language of policing replaces the language of invasion.
Finally, the moral escape hatch: “messy, but necessary.” Legal discomfort acknowledged, then dismissed. Illegality is rendered tolerable when performed by the hegemon and endorsed by Western Allies.
And now, Western foreign policy analysts and media are turning a blatant breach of international law by the US into an opportunity to demonise others. They are warning that Trump has set a precedent Beijing could use against Taiwan or Putin against others. (‘ US Strike on Venezuela Puts China’s........