U.S. arrest of Maduro sparks ‘might makes right’ fears

The ancient Greek historian Thucydides once wrote that “the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” On Jan. 3, the United States appeared to echo that maxim when it launched strikes on Venezuela and, in a lightning raid, arrested President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

The couple was flown to New York to face drug and terrorism charges, drawing sharp criticism from foreign governments about the legality of the attack. The operation also reignited debate over whether Washington is reviving a world where might makes right.

David Roche of Quantum Strategy told CNBC the operation could weaken U.S. arguments against similar actions by rivals.

“If Donald Trump can walk into a country and take it over… then why is Putin wrong about Ukraine, and why is China not entitled to take over Taiwan?” Roche said.

The U.S. has asserted what it calls a “Trump Corollary” in its recently released National Security Strategy, reviving the Monroe Doctrine of the 1820s, where the U.S. had a sphere of influence over the so-called “Western Hemisphere.”

A sphere of influence refers to a region where a powerful country seeks to dominate political, military or economic decisions without formally annexing territory.

The concept echoes the Roosevelt Corollary, which historically justified U.S. intervention in Latin America.

A statement from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected,” calling the developments in Venezuela a “dangerous precedent.”

Roche warned the action could create unintended consequences. “On one hand, you’ve created a series of threats, and on the other, you’ve created a series of permissions to every dictatorial, autocratic regime, who wants to act to take over territory which is not currently within its ambit.”

In his New Year’s address, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared Taiwan’s unification “unstoppable,” echoing U.S. intelligence assessments that Beijing could attempt to seize the island by force within this decade.

Ryan Hass, a former U.S. diplomat and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, cautioned against drawing direct parallels.

“There will be an impulse among foreign policy analysts to draw analogies to Taiwan and to warn about Trump setting a precedent Beijing could use against Taiwan. I would caution against that impulse,” he wrote on X.