Summary
Trump’s push to dominate the Western Hemisphere treats other nations as objects, not partners. His Venezuela raid shows this blunt, lawless approach and ignores democracy or local wishes. Trying to impose a sphere of influence will weaken the U.S. and provoke resistance.
Highlights
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At his press conference on Saturday,Trump did not use the word democracy. He did not refer to international law. Instead, he presented a garbled version of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, a policy originally designed to keep foreign imperial powers out of the Americas, calling it something that sounded like the “Donroe Document”: “Under our new National Security Strategy,” he said, reading from prepared remarks, “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”
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Russia’s and China’s responses to Trump’s actions this weekend have been surprisingly soft, given their billions of dollars of investments in Venezuela. Perhaps this is because the language Trump is using to justify the kidnapping of Maduro echoes some of their own narratives. Ukraine belongs to Russia’s sphere is Vladimir Putin’s main argument, after all. *Taiwan is part of China’*s sphere will be Xi Jinping’s justification if he decides to invade the island.