Are Americans still the good guys? It pains me to have to ask the question. Throughout my life, the United States was the definition, the epitome, the essence of a good nation. When we spoke of a country improving, we meant it was becoming more like the U.S. We meant that it could vote out its leaders without the losers being imprisoned or exiled; that its legislature acted as a check on its executive; that people could speak freely against their government; that its armed forces were under civilian control.

A country’s foreign policy, like its domestic policy, reflects its values. The U.S., founded 250 years ago in a popular revolt against autocratic rule, had a natural sympathy with open societies. When it intervened overseas, it was usually to nudge countries in a democratic direction. Not always, of course. The imperatives of the Cold War involved propping up some nasty regimes. More often than not, though. And when errors were made, as in Iraq, they tended to be errors of exuberance, errors of excessive optimism.

Which brings us to Venezuela. When it comes to interventions in the Americas, it was the laissez-faire Obama and Biden administrations that were anomalous. President Donald Trump is returning to........

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