Trump's Venezuela military campaign is unlikely to help him politically and will further undermine the rules-based international order

Abstract

On January 3rd President Trump announced that following a military operation in Caracas, Venezuela, US forces had “captured” the country’s president Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, subsequently transporting them to the US to face drugs and weapons charges. In this short Q&A Phelan US Centre Director, Professor Peter Trubowitz, writes that while it is too early to tell what America’s seizure of Maduro will mean for Venezuela’s people, it will make it harder for the US to insist that other countries like Russia and China follow the already weakened international order.