The struggle for power and resources is a constant of history, but its methods evolve. Ancient empires conquered outright, claiming land and wealth by force, their motives veiled in glory. The modern era preferred subtlety – controlling oil and minerals through economic pressure and political influence, without the burden of direct rule.

The US capture and prosecution of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro mark a daring fusion of these old and new models. It is ancient resource plunder, executed with the precise instruments of modern legal warfare. This event reveals a grim reality: sovereignty is not a sacred principle, but a conditional privilege granted by power.

Dense fog grips Lahore, freezing temperatures disrupt daily life and flight operations

We are forced to confront a couple of critical questions: has the international rules-based order itself been weaponised? Has the language of justice been emptied to serve the ancient logic of domination? The courtroom has not just replaced the battlefield – it has become a more potent one. Here, raw power undergoes a masterful alchemy, transformed into perceived legitimacy through the rituals of law.

History provides a clear contrast. Rome’s annihilation of Carthage was, at its heart, a war for economic supremacy, ending with Rome directly administering its rival’s silver mines. Conquest was total. The modern era developed a different template. The 20th-century ‘wars for oil’ typically avoided formal empire, aiming to install compliant regimes without the burden of direct rule, as seen in post-1953 Iran or the 2003 Iraq War.

© The Nation