US attack on Venezuela tests moral clarity of the post-war world order
Amid Washington’s use of force, there is a sense that global affairs are drifting towards a modernised version of the law of the jungle
Beyond its immediate impact on Latin America, the operation has sent a wider signal. It underscores a willingness to bypass international norms, intimidate smaller states and expand the scope of unilateral action, raising concerns not only in the Americas but also in regions as distant as Europe.
The use of force, especially actions that endanger international peace and security, should constitute the gravest of global crises, demanding caution, restraint and accountability. Yet when the US president speaks casually – even with levity – about military strikes against Iran or likens the arrest of a sovereign head of state to “watching a television show”, and when some take to social media to celebrate the “surgical precision” of such operations, a deeper alarm emerges. The international order painstakingly built since the end of the second world war is facing one of its most serious tests.