“Trump takes Venezuela and Russia takes back Ukraine,” predicted the Russian fascist leader Zhirinovsky in 2020. On January 3 of that same year, the U.S. president closed his first term by having Iranian General Soleimani killed.

Six years later, again on a January 3, here we are with Delta Force in Caracas. In a single year, Trump has unilaterally bombed Iran, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Nigeria and now Venezuela – largely ignoring Congress. So much for the arrogance of those who predicted that an isolationist president would mean fewer wars, to Europe’s benefit.

Like nationalisms, imperialist drives reinforce one another. Faced with these military actions – and the capture and detention of the Venezuelan president and his wife – it becomes very hard to see why other powers and aspiring ones, starting with China and Russia, should refrain from engaging in frequent “special operations” in their own neighborhoods. Just hours before the start of the bombings, Beijing’s special envoy arrived in Caracas, putting 600 bilateral agreements on Maduro’s table.

Engaged with its own navy off Taiwan (“irreversible national reunification”), China had intercepted a cargo ship loaded with U.S.-made HIMARS, announcing the intensification of interceptions of weapons directed to Taipei. With Chinese diplomats still in Caracas, the message from Washington to those looking at expanding their interests in America’s “backyard” could not be more explicit: external support does not protect against the new Monroe Doctrine and the........

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