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By Brian Daitzman
President Donald Trump’s decision to take Venezuela’s leader into U.S. custody lands amid what Poland’s prime minister has described as a pre-war era. As Ukraine grinds on and Taiwan braces for pressure, the return of spheres of influence and nineteenth-century balance-of-power diplomacy revives the logic that once carried Europe—and then the world—into catastrophe.
This morning, January 3, 2026, the world became more dangerous—and less governed by the rule of law.
President Donald Trump ordered the United States to take Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s sitting leader, into U.S. custody. According to international reporting, Maduro and his wife are expected to face criminal charges in federal court.
For many observers, the reaction was immediate approval.
This article is part of The Intellectualist’s series for paid subscribers, A History of the Present. Upgrade your subscription today.
Maduro presided over the destruction of one of Latin America’s most resource-rich countries, ruled with open contempt for democratic norms, and ruined the lives of millions of Venezuelans. The moral indictment against him is overwhelming. Supporters argue that extraordinary regimes require extraordinary measures, and that accountability long denied can justify exceptional action.
What is not morally simple is what this act now means.
Maduro remains the sovereign leader of a recognized state. Sovereignty is not a moral endorsement; it is a structural constraint—the rule that has historically limited how power is exercised across borders.
When sovereignty holds, diplomacy is possible, deterrence is legible, and escalation can be contained. When it erodes, power begins to justify itself.
When such systems fail, it is not great powers that absorb the immediate costs, but smaller states and civilian populations whose legal protections are the first to erode.
When the world’s most powerful state takes the leader of another state into custody unilaterally—without multilateral process, without clear congressional authorization, and with no public indication of prior consultation with allies—the lesson absorbed elsewhere is not about justice. It is about permission: about what is now possible.
The timing matters. Trump’s decision lands amid what Poland’s prime minister has publicly described as a pre-war era. Ukraine continues as a grinding conflict in which external powers test weapons, doctrines, and resolve, while Taiwan faces mounting military pressure from a China increasingly willing to demonstrate force. Across Europe and Asia, allied leaders have publicly acknowledged the need to adjust to a more unpredictable American role...
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