The prevalent belief about the stability of the rules based world order has been badly shaken in the aftermath of recent US actions.

This tradition dates back to the days of Immanuel Kant, an 18th century German philosopher. It is based on his theory of ‘perpetual peace’. Since then, this school has evolved markedly. One of the most important contributions of this school of thought is the notion of a rules-based world order; this denotes the idea that international law and norms impose costs on nation-states that pursue an aggressive foreign policy, particularly actions that threaten the existence of other states, thereby ensuring the maintenance of peace and stability.

The idea, however, has been severely weakened in the wake of recent U.S. actions on Venezuela.

On January 3, American armed forces raided Caracas, the capital of Venezuela and abducted the president Nicolas Maduro and his spouse and flew back to the U.S. shores. This ‘extraordinary military operation,’ termed Operation Absolute Resolve, has shocked the adherents of the rules based world order.

In this context, it becomes essential to understand the implications of the U.S. action.

Law of the Jungle is back

In On the Origin of Species, the British biologist Charles Darwin propounded the theory of evolution. As a part of that theory, he pointed out the idea that in order to survive,........

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