Political opinions are many. Viable political theories appear fewer. I am advocating a new unipolar welfare world with multipolar regions. People of the world should unite to create one welfare world without any racial, lingual, color, religious, and territorial limitations. All the war propaganda, screaming, lies, and hatred invariably come from people who are not fighting in war. Understand: People who elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims but accomplices.
Nearly 95% of India’s container trade is dominated by global shipping giants, forcing India to spend an amount comparable to its defence budget just to move its own exports and imports. BCL directly addresses this strategic and economic vulnerability.
Ownership Structure:
Shipping Corporation of India (30%), Container Corporation of India (30%), Sagarmala Finance Corporation (20%), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (10%), Chennai Port Authority (5%), and VO Chidambaranar Port Authority (5%).
Why It Matters:
BCL will reduce foreign dependence, cut logistics costs, save forex, strengthen supply-chain control, and align with India’s Sagarmala, port modernisation, and shipbuilding push.
With Bharat Container Line, India aims to move its trade on Indian ships, Indian routes, and Indian terms, a major step toward logistics sovereignty. 9:15PM 29 Jan 2026
The Last Straw: India Takes the Wheel at BRICS:While the "Petro-Rupee" laid the kindling, the spark that finally burned the bridge was India’s bold assumption of leadership within the BRICS currency project. As the host of the 2026 BRICS Summit, New Delhi has moved beyond passive participation to active architecture. The Reserve Bank of India has formally proposed linking the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) of member nations—a project dubbed the "BRICS Bridge."
But their real business was hawala.
The brothers laundered black money for Dawood Ibrahim, Al-Qaeda, and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Along with the ISI, they built a massive network to push fake Indian currency into India. Eventually, they came under the radar of U.S. agencies, and the U.S. Treasury Department declared their company a “Transnational Criminal Organization.”
In 2015, Altaf Khanani was arrested in the United States, where he remains in prison even today.
In India, after the UPA government led by Congress came to power in 2004, P. Chidambaram became the Finance Minister.
In 2006, a new company was formed — Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) — which began purchasing security printing paper and security threads for Indian currency from the British company De La Rue.
The shocking part was that the same company was supplying the same paper and security threads to Pakistan as well.
For the ISI, there was now no problem they had the paper and the security thread. What they needed was the printing die, which was also delivered to them by the same network that helped supply everything else.
The ISI began printing Indian ₹500 and ₹1000 notes in bulk, and Khanani routed these fake notes into India via Qatar and Nepal.
The truth surfaced in 2010, when Indian agencies got wind of the operation and conducted raids on 70 banks near the Nepal border. What came out afterward shocked the entire country.
It was discovered that RBI lockers themselves contained thousands of crores worth of fake currency, so perfect that it was nearly impossible to distinguish from genuine notes. What lay in the homes of ordinary citizens was beyond imagination.
In panic, the Finance Minister was changed. Pranab Mukherjee replaced Chidambaram and promptly blacklisted De La Rue.
But in 2012, Chidambaram returned as Finance Minister. His secretary, Arvind Mayaram, resumed purchasing paper from the same blacklisted company, De La Rue.
Pakistan once again benefitted massively printing Indian currency, using it to buy weapons, recruit terrorists, train them, and execute attacks like 26/11, bomb Indian cities, and fund anti-India activities within India itself all using India’s own money to destroy India.
Then came 2014, when awakened Hindus of the country worked relentlessly and made Narendra Modi the Prime Minister. One of his first actions was to re-blacklist De La Rue, and an FIR was filed against Arvind Mayaram.
Then came the night of 8 November 2016. At 8 PM, Prime Minister Modi addressed the nation on television and, with just four hours’ notice, completely dismantled the fake currency network in a single stroke.
Pakistan collapsed overnight.
₹40,000 crore worth of fake currency held by Javed Khanani became worthless within four hours.
He reportedly jumped from his building and died.
Pakistan’s era of begging began and continues to this day. As long as Modi remains in power, Pakistan will neither stand on its feet nor remain united.
It wasn’t just Pakistan that suffered. Those inside India who thrived on black money met the same fate. Many who once pretended to be staunch Modi supporters before 2016 were exposed afterward. The pain of demonetization became a permanent wound for them.
Demonetization was an extremely dangerous decision implemented with only four hours’ notice. Only Modi could have done it. In one move, he made enemies on both sides of the border and within the country.
I still remember how he folded his hands and asked the nation for support and the nation stood firmly with him.
In the end, they set up a slave market where they sold the beautiful boys and girls. They themselves boasted that the plunder surpassed that of the City (Constantinople).
After the fall of Famagusta (6-8-1571), the Muslim Turks treated its Venetian defender, Marcantonio Bragadino, by stripping him naked, placing him on a cow, and parading him amid the sounds of drums and the shouts of the Ottomans. Then they threw him down and flayed him alive, stuffed his skin with straw, hung it on the galley of the captain from Rhodes, and cut his body into pieces which they hung from the ship's cannons. Afterward, the galley sailed along the coasts of Syria, so that the victors could thus seal their triumph.
In 1571, the Turks completed the conquest of Cyprus. The spoils were abundant. Among other things, they captured many girls, whom they boarded onto a ship bound for the slave markets. Among them was the proud Greek woman Maria the Synglitiki, of aristocratic descent, who stood out for her beauty. In order to spare both herself and the other girls the humiliation of being bought and sold, she found a way to set fire to the ship's gunpowder magazine. The explosion that followed was tremendous. All the girls and the Turkish crew perished.
Centuries have passed, but the Muslim Turks have not changed; they remained and remain barbarians, just like Islam itself. Thus, in 1974, the barbarians invaded the great island of the Greeks once again and committed crimes that the human mind cannot comprehend.
"They put us in a school classroom in Voni, along with the rest of the family. They would come in whenever they wanted, choose us, and take us to satisfy their sexual desires. I didn't go out to get rations. I always wore my grandmother's clothes to look old, but they could see my face. I only went out when I needed the toilet. I was constantly wrapped in a blanket, and all the little kids sat on top of me so that the Turks wouldn't keep dragging me away and raping me. This lasted for three months, until the Red Cross arrived."
Testimonies from women victims of rape during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
The crime described took place in the occupied village of Voni in the Nicosia province, which had been used by the Turkish army as a detention camp for women and children. Similar camps had also been set up in the villages of Vitsada, Marathovouno, and Gypsou in the Famagusta province, where, according to testimonies, systematic rapes were committed by the Turkish army.
Hundreds were also the abortions that were carried out en masse in the second half of 1974 in Cyprus. According to testimonies from doctors recorded in the book by Chrysanthos Chrysanthou, "The Other War of the Doctors in 1974," hundreds of brutally abused women became pregnant and special legislation had to be passed so that they could terminate their pregnancies. Many abortions were performed in private clinics, several at the Nicosia General Hospital, while due to the overcrowding of that hospital with war wounded, many abortions were undertaken by doctors at the hospitals of the British Bases in Dhekelia and Akrotiri.
Previously, many other women had miscarried using abortion pills, which were distributed to them by the Red Cross while they were still in the Turkish army's detention camps; a fact that leads to the conclusion that the brutalities of the Turkish soldiers were known even before the liberation of the captive women. It is noted that, in order to facilitate the process of mass abortions, even the Church of Cyprus had consented through its tolerance to the amendment of the legislation in 1974, so that the abortions of that period became legal.
Do we need to say more?
Yes we do. I will keep going.
This is the history of the Greeks who fight the barbarians in our eternal history.
Homer Pavlos 11:12PM 15 Dec 2025.
14 December 2025
Dan Burmawi on X: "Most Muslims in the West don’t wake up strategizing how to take over the world. But they’ve been conditioned to view Islamic norms as inherently superior. That superiority doesn’t disappear at the border. It travels in the luggage of language, customs, assumptions, and sacred" / Xassumptions, and sacred texts. And eventually, it seeps into local politics, social demands, and institutional pressure, slowly, passively, invisibly. This is how the system reproduces itself without meetings, leaders, or manifestos. It doesn’t need central command when the psychology is collective and the doctrine is divine. Muslims in the West don’t have to organize a coup to alter the cultural landscape. All they have to do is continue being who the system trained them to be: People who defer to divine authority over secular law, who view freedom of speech as dangerous, who see dissent as blasphemy, and who feel morally justified in pressuring the host society to bend to their religious sensitivities. In Islam, there is no separation. Religion is government. Religion is law. Religion is identity.The West doesn’t need to fear a conspiracy, it needs to fear complacency. Because what we’re facing isn’t a war of weapons. It’s a war of worldviews. One side believes the individual is sovereign. The other believes Allah is. One side encourages doubt, dissent, and open debate. The other treats them as disease. One side builds freedom from the inside out. The other demands submission from the top down. So no, there’s no secret plan. But that’s what makes it more dangerous. Because you can fight a conspiracy. You can expose a plot. But how do you fight a collective subconscious, when most of the people carrying it don’t even know they are?4:15PM 14 December 2025.
"While the World Watched Venezuela, China Quietly Won the Oil War | John Mearsheimer
While headlines fixated on Venezuela—tankers seized, sanctions imposed, warships deployed—the real shift in global power unfolded quietly elsewhere. In this episode, we step back from the spectacle and examine the deeper structural question: how China leveraged energy markets, currency settlement, and alternative trade architecture to neutralize American coercion—without firing a shot.
Framed through the realist lens associated with John Mearsheimer, this 29-minute analysis dissects how sanctions can accelerate systemic change, why alternatives—not confrontation—decide great-power outcomes, and what the erosion of enforcement power means for the future of the global order. This is not a story about Venezuela. It is about who sets the rules of trade, who controls leverage, and why power today migrates through contracts rather than conflicts.
If you’re interested in cold, structural analysis of geopolitics—beyond headlines and hype—subscribe to the channel, like the video, and share your thoughts in the comments. Your engagement helps us continue producing independent, high-signal analysis on global power dynamics."
⚠️ Disclaimer
This channel provides independent geopolitical commentary and analytical reporting.
It is not affiliated with John Mearsheimer, the University of Chicago, or any governmental or academic institution.
All content is based on publicly available information, reputable journalism, historical research, and original editorial synthesis.
Narration utilizes AI tools for educational and journalistic purposes.
Nothing here constitutes political, financial, or legal advice. Our focus is strictly on governments, strategies, and global power dynamics.
Hashtags"
The inability of Russia and China is visible in South America. I am of the opinion that Russia and China must not interfere in the American hemisphere. On the contrary, Russia, China, and India must unite to form an association like NATO at the earliest. If Europe and other Asian countries join, it shall be better. But wait for the time and develop RIC more than BRICS. War should be avoided at any cost, as war is not the solution. Peaceful existence is better than an unstable way of life. Sizwe SikaMusi on X: "People in the Global South are asking why Russia and China are not intervening in Venezuela instead of just issuing condemnations. The truth is that China’s and Russia’s lack of physical intervention highlights the often unspoken cold realities of geopolitics. Like everything" / XLike everything in geopolitics, the reasons are complicated. However, a few things immediately stand out: For one, Russia is already at war in Ukraine, 10 000 kilometres away. This is not a small detail. Power is finite, and states act based on capacity, risk, and return. Russia being tied down in a large, grinding war thousands of kilometres away is decisive here. Military intervention is about logistics and sustainment.
Opening a second front in the Western Hemisphere would be a strategically reckless move. Second, geography still matters, even in a globalised world. Venezuela sits deep inside what has historically been treated as the United States’ strategic backyard. Any overt military intervention there would immediately trigger confrontation with the United States on its home turf.
Unlike Russia, which has had a minor military presence in Venezuela, China lacks the power projection capabilities to challenge the U.S. Navy in the Caribbean, especially against the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group currently stationed there.
Venezuela is not what Ukraine is to Russia or Taiwan to China in strategic terms. It does not sit at the centre of Russia’s security perimeter or China’s long-term territorial ambitions. States are far more willing to fight when defeat would threaten regime survival or core sovereignty. Venezuela does not meet that threshold for either nation.
While Maduro often touted his “ironclad” friendship with Putin and Xi, these relationships have proven to be largely transactional. When faced with the prospect of a direct kinetic conflict with the United States in its own “backyard,” both Moscow and Beijing have prioritised their own national security and economic interests.
Also, unlike NATO, the agreements between Venezuela, Russia, and China do not include mutual defence clauses. Legally and strategically, neither country is obligated to go to war for Venezuela.
Beijing’s 2025 policy papers on Latin America emphasised “strategic partnership” but steered clear of military guarantees, prioritising a “peaceful multipolar world” over direct confrontation.
In fact, China has not been to war in many decades, and this is by design. Its model of power projection prioritises economic leverage, infrastructure, trade dependency, and diplomatic insulation instead of warfare.
Intervening militarily in Venezuela would undermine the very image China works hard to project, that of a non-interventionist alternative to Western coercion.
By condemning US “hegemonic behaviour” and “illegal abduction,” China presents itself as the defender of international law and the UN Charter without firing a single shot.
This is not to say China has nothing to lose in this situation. Quite the opposite, actually. Venezuela owes Beijing an estimated $60 billion. A US-installed administration could use the legal doctrine of “Odious Debt.”
A new government could argue that the loans provided by China were used by the Maduro regime to “finance narco-terrorism” and “suppress the people,” and therefore, the debt is not the responsibility of the new state.
Trump and his handlers would likely support this move. Cancelling Venezuelan debt to China would simultaneously relieve Caracas’s balance sheet and inflict a significant financial loss on Beijing. Oil exports currently directed to China as debt repayment could be rerouted to the US and Western markets, leaving China with unpaid loans and stranded supply contracts.
A US-friendly government would likely redirect oil exports, which currently go primarily to China to pay off debt, back toward the US and Western markets, leaving China with empty tankers and unpaid bills.
This explains why China is currently “fuming” but physically stuck. They know that a military confrontation with the US in the Americas would be a total loss, but they also know that a US-led regime change could lead to a total financial default.
Beijing may have hoped that Maduro could survive long enough to pay back more of the debt. Now that he is captured, China is shifting to a legalist defence, using the UN Security Council to demand that “private contracts and international debt obligations” be respected by any successor government.
China has essentially been “priced out” of Venezuela by American military force. The “might makes right” reality today means that Beijing’s $60 billion investment may have just vanished into the Caribbean along with Maduro.
So, both Russia and China are forced to resort to attempts to shape outcomes through vetoes, financial mechanisms, energy deals, intelligence sharing, and diplomatic delay.
This is the same MO deployed by South Africa, which is leading the diplomatic charge at the UN, accusing the US of “state-sponsored kidnapping” and “state terrorism,” arguing that if a leader can be plucked from their capital by a foreign power, the UN Charter is effectively dead.
The argument here is that international law has become “meaningless,” and we have entered an era where if a power can enforce its will in its own backyard, it will. This puts pressure on the rest of the world to decide whether it agrees that “might makes right” or not.
Both Russia and China are now using the US action to win a diplomatic war in the Global South. By allowing the US to act like a gangster, they can point to it as the “true aggressor” and “lawbreaker” on the global stage.
More cynically, they can use the “dangerous precedent”, as noted by the UN Secretary-General, to justify their own future actions in their respective spheres of influence in Taiwan and Eastern Europe.
In that sense, Venezuela is a marker of a world drifting from “rules” toward raw enforcement, and forcing every state to decide whether “might makes right” is now the governing principle.
4. It's not clear that Maduro will be replaced by Gonzalez. Maduro's VP is still apparently in power, as are other regime figures and the Cubans who back them.
5. As we've seen in Iraq and Libya, it can be easier to topple a leader than to establish a new government; sometimes you get a worse leader, or Somalia-style chaos. 11:23PM 3 Jan 2026.
Here's what really just happened:
Venezuela has 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. The largest on Earth. More than Saudi Arabia. 20% of the entire world's oil.
But here's the part that matters:
Venezuela was actively selling that oil in Chinese yuan. Not dollars. In 2018, Venezuela announced it would "free itself from the dollar." They started accepting yuan, euros, rubles, anything BUT dollars for oil. They were petitioning to join BRICS. They were building direct payment channels with China that bypass SWIFT entirely. And they were sitting on enough oil to fund de-dollarization for decades.
Why does this matter? Because the entire American financial system is built on one thing:
The petrodollar.
In 1974, Henry Kissinger made a deal with Saudi Arabia:
All oil sold globally must be priced in US dollars. In exchange, America provides military protection. This single agreement created artificial demand for dollars worldwide. Every country on Earth needs dollars to buy oil. This lets America print unlimited money while other countries work for it. It funds the military. The welfare state. The deficit spending. The petrodollar is more important to US hegemony than aircraft carriers.
And there's a pattern of what happens to leaders who challenge it:
2000: Saddam Hussein announces Iraq will sell oil in euros instead of dollars.
2003: Invaded. Regime change. Iraq's oil immediately switched back to dollars. Saddam lynched. The WMDs were never found because they never existed.
2009: Gaddafi proposes a gold-backed African currency called the "gold dinar" for oil trade.
Hillary Clinton's own leaked emails confirm this was the PRIMARY reason for intervention.
Email quote: "This gold was intended to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar.
2011: NATO bombs Libya. Gaddafi sodomized and murdered. Libya now has open slave markets. "We came, we saw, he died!" Clinton laughed on camera. The gold dinar died with him.
And now Maduro.
With FIVE TIMES more oil than Saddam and Gaddafi combined. Actively selling in yuan.
Building payment systems outside dollar control. Petitioning to join BRICS.
Partnered with China, Russia, and Iran. The three countries leading global de-dollarization.
This isn't coincidence. Challenge the petrodollar. Get regime changed.
Every. Single. Time.
Stephen Miller (US homeland security advisor) literally said it out loud two weeks ago:
"American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property."
He's not hiding it. They're claiming Venezuelan oil BELONGS to America because US companies developed it 100 years ago. By this logic, every nationalized resource in history was "theft."
But here's the DEEPER problem:
The petrodollar is already dying. Russia sells oil in rubles and yuan since Ukraine. Saudi Arabia is openly discussing yuan settlements. Iran has been trading in non-dollar currencies for years.
China built CIPS, their own alternative to SWIFT with 4,800 banks in 185 countries. BRICS is actively building payment systems that bypass the dollar entirely. The mBridge project lets central banks settle trades instantly in local currencies. Venezuela joining BRICS with 303 billion barrels of oil would accelerate this exponentially. That's what this invasion is really about.
Not stopping drugs. Venezuela accounts for less than 1% of US cocaine. Not terrorism. There's zero evidence Maduro runs a "terror organization." Not democracy. The US supports Saudi Arabia, which has zero elections. This is about maintaining a 50-year-old agreement that lets America print money while the world works for it.
And the consequences are terrifying:
Russia, China, and Iran are already denouncing this as "armed aggression." China is Venezuela's biggest oil customer. They're losing billions. BRICS nations are watching a country get invaded for trading outside the dollar.
Every nation considering de-dollarization just got the message:
Challenge the dollar and we will bomb you. But here's the problem... that message might accelerate de-dollarization, not stop it. Because now every country in the Global South knows what happens if you threaten dollar hegemony. And they're realizing the only protection is to move FASTER.
The timing is insane too:
January 3rd, 2026. Venezuela invaded. Maduro captured. January 3rd, 1990. Panama invaded. Noriega captured.36 years apart. Almost to the day. Same playbook. Same "drug trafficking" excuse. Same real reason: control of strategic resources and trade routes. History doesn't repeat. But it rhymes.
What happens next:
Trump's press conference at Mar-a-Lago sets the narrative. US oil companies are already lined up. Politico reported they've been approached about "returning to Venezuela."The opposition will be installed. Oil will flow in dollars again.Venezuela becomes another Iraq. Another Libya.
But here's what nobody's asking:
What happens when you can no longer bomb your way to dollar dominance? When China has enough economic leverage to retaliate? When BRICS controls 40% of global GDP and says "no more dollars"? When the world realizes the petrodollar is maintained by violence? America just showed its hand. The question is whether the rest of the world folds or calls the bluff.
Because this invasion is an admission that the dollar can no longer compete on its own merits.
When you have to bomb countries to keep them using your currency, the currency is already dying.
Venezuela isn't the beginning.
It's the desperate end. Ricardo 1:31AM 4 Jan 2026.
In that case, Iran would likely move to the forefront of Washington’s strategic priorities.
Securing control over Venezuelan oil would reduce U.S. vulnerability to energy disruptions in the Gulf and provide a buffer against supply shocks in the event of a confrontation with Iran.
With a reliable alternative source of heavy crude under its influence, Washington would be better positioned to absorb or offset the destruction or shutdown of energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf during a war.
This would lower the economic cost of escalation and make military pressure against Iran more politically and economically manageable.
At the same time, such control would strengthen the United States’ ability to shape global oil flows and pricing, reinforcing the central role of the dollar in energy markets and helping preserve the petrodollar system that underpins U.S. financial power.
Venezuela would thus become more than a regional issue.
It would become a strategic precedent, a demonstration that economic pressure, political engineering, and, if necessary, force can be used to restructure sovereign states and realign the global balance of power.
However, if the United States becomes entangled in Venezuela and faces sustained resistance, the outcome shifts dramatically.
A prolonged crisis would drain political capital, stretch military and economic resources, and weaken Washington’s capacity to project power elsewhere, including in the Middle East.
That would also complicate Israeli strategic planning, which is closely tied to U.S. regional leverage.
What happens in Venezuela will not stay in Latin America.
It will shape the future of energy control, the limits of American power, and the direction of geopolitical confrontation far beyond Caracas.
We call on the U.S. to abide by international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and stop violating other countries’ sovereignty and security. 3:34AM 4 Jan 2026
But here’s the part the “liberators” never tell you! When foreign forces parachute in claiming they’re here to “save” you, what follows is not freedom. It’s chaos, extraction, and decades of abusing resources.
Kidnapping presidents doesn’t create democracy!
Bombs don’t build institutions!
And sovereignty doesn’t survive “humanitarian invasions”!
Expect your resources quietly changing hands.
If the President grounds his actions on the basis of drug trafficking charges, it is entirely hypocritical in light of his recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernรกndez who was responsible for bringing more than 400 tons of cocaine in the United States in order to “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.”
The Administration says Maduro will be tried for drug trafficking in a U.S. court — but Hernรกndez was convicted of the same crime by an American jury and Trump pardoned him.
Congress must be fully and immediately briefed on the strikes and regime change in Venezuela, the objectives and extent of this operation, and how the Administration intends to prevent further regional fallout. 5:38AM 4 Jan 2026.
Nicolas Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator who deserves to face justice. I want the people of Venezuela to be free to choose their own future, but if we learned anything from the Iraq war, it’s that dropping bombs or toppling a leader doesn’t guarantee democracy, stability or make Americans safer. More often, it leads to chaos or drags the US into a war and lengthy occupation. I don’t trust that this administration has a plan, timeline, or price tag for what comes next.
Over the past year, Trump’s foreign policy has been reckless, chaotic, self-serving, and unconstitutional. Congress should vote this week to reassert its authority on behalf of the American people before he oversteps again. I also want to recognize the professionalism and skill of the American service members involved in this operation. While I don’t agree with the administration’s justification for this, I’m thankful that no service members were killed or seriously injured. 6:50AM 4 Jan 2026.
- Maduro and his wife gave up and were taken into custody.
- The youngest crew member was 20, and the oldest crew member was 49.
- Preparation took several months.
- "Those in the air over Caracas last night were willing to give their lives for those on the ground and in the helicopters."
- "After months of work by our intelligence teammates to find Maduro and understand how he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets..."
- The weather was just clear enough for the mission so aviators could operate.
“We have the Colombian Guerilla, the drug cartels that have taken over 60% of our population, and not only involving drug trafficking, but in human trafficking, in networks of prostitution. So this has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas, and what sustained the regime is a very powerful and strongly funded repression system. 9:06AM 4 Jan 2026.
The American people do not want this, and they are tired of being lied to.
This is not about drugs or democracy. It is about oil and Donald Trump’s desire to play the regional strongman. If he cared about either, he wouldn’t pardon a convicted drug trafficker or sideline Venezuela’s legitimate opposition while pursuing deals with Maduro’s cronies.
The President is putting troops at risk, spending billions, destabilizing a region, and offering no legal authority, no exit plan, and no benefit at home.
America needs leadership whose priorities are lowering costs for working families, enforcing the rule of law, strengthening alliances, and — most importantly — putting the American people first. 2:05PM 4 Jan 2026.
Look, there are plenty of people who never even pretend to have a core set of principles they cling to. They’re utilitarians and technocrats—ruled by polling, vibes, ambition, and career incentives. Fine. At least they’re honest about being wind vanes.
But most people do claim to stand for a consistent set of ideas—constitutional restraint, limited government, “America First,” non-intervention, rule of law, due process, sovereignty, you name it.
The problem is that they’re often inconsistent, especially when the outcome is emotionally satisfying.
Today proved that again. People who claim to champion the Constitution suddenly ignore its restraints on executive power and, when pressed, point to court precedent, congressional statutes, and past presidential deviations as if those things are the Constitution.
“But… the Barbary pirates!”
“But George H.W. Bush removed Noriega in Panama!”
“But the courts said XYZ!”
“But Congress passed some statute in 199-whatever!”
So I’ve asked a simple question, repeatedly, across social media threads today: Where, exactly, is the constitutional provision authorizing the president to invade another country and depose its leader?
The replies come back empty, no constitutional provision cited. They can't, because it doesn't exist. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. No "targeted strikes" or anything of the like are separately authorized for the president to execute at his whim.
That’s the whole point of written limits: the text is supposed to bind you. Instead, we get arguments that past presidents did it, and some lawyers said it was okay. This is tantamount to saying “Billy did it, so I thought it was okay for me to do it.” That’s playground logic, not constitutional rigor.
And that’s my point: there is no rigor. There’s only precedent—meaning, prior lawlessness used to justify the next round of lawlessness. The administration itself appears to be leaning on the idea that indictments and “national interests” somehow transform regime change into a lawful “arrest mission.”
Trump was elected in part because people were exhausted by foreign meddling. He was praised (by some of these same voices!) for resisting the interventionist itch. And now he’s kicking up dirt in Venezuela.
“But Venezuelans are happy!” the commenters have repeatedly said. “They’re in the streets celebrating!”
Yes. Sometimes they are. That’s not a serious argument. That’s the-ends-justify-the-means dressed up as compassion—again, playground-level reasoning.
Guess what: Iraqis filled the streets when Saddam was deposed. “Baghdad Celebrates Saddam’s Fall,” read a headline in Voice of America, for an article describing dancing and cheering as thousands poured into the streets. 
Then Iraq spiraled into insurgency, sectarian civil war, mass death, displacement, and the conditions that helped give rise to ISIS.
Libyans filled the streets when Gaddafi fell. So then we got an article titled “Libyans celebrate Gaddafi’s death” in Al Jazeera, describing jubilant crowds and the “end of tyranny.” 
Then Libya fractured into militias and rival governments, becoming a prolonged civil conflict and a humanitarian disaster.
I could go on. You get the pattern.
Here’s the deeper point that people keep refusing to learn: if your principles only apply when they’re easy, you don’t have principles… you have preferences. And preferences make terrible guardrails for state power.
Every time you cheer an exception, you’re not just celebrating a moment… you’re authoring a precedent. You're excusing the next guy, in any political party, and for any reason, to do it too.
If you’re applauding unilateral regime change today because the target is a villain, you’re also applauding unilateral regime change tomorrow when the target is someone you don’t want touched. Power doesn’t care about your intentions (or your preferences). It cares about the permission slip we seemingly always give it.
To be clear: Maduro is no hero. He’s a tyrant who has presided over ruin and repression. But the question isn’t whether Maduro is bad (he obviously is). The question is whether we are governed by law or by appetite.
Because “he’s bad” is not a constitutional argument, nor is "Venezuelans are happy and freer." It’s the (fake) argument every president uses when he wants to do something he has already decided to do.
And this is why presidents since Washington have gotten away with exceeding constitutional limits: because the public trains them to. They learn that violating restraints can spark national pride, satisfy a thirst for vengeance, and earn adoration from people who swear they oppose unchecked power—right up until it produces an outcome they like.
You want a country of laws? Then act like law matters when it’s inconvenient.
Stop treating the Constitution as a decoration.
Stop citing precedent as if it were permission.
Stop excusing today’s overreach because you hate today’s target.
Because the bill always comes due, and the payment is usually made by people who never voted for the war, never authorized the mission, and never wanted their country turned into the kind of thing it once claimed to oppose.
So yes, we can answer James Madison’s question: “Will it be sufficient… to trust to these parchment barriers (i.e., the Constitution) against the encroaching spirit of power?” Obviously not. Parchment only restrains power when the people treat it as a leash—not a suggestion. When half the country cheers the leash getting snapped because their guy did it to their enemy, the paper might as well not exist. And that's the cycle we've long been in.
Yes, Venezuela may be a little freer, for now. But listen to the triumphalism in Trump's announcement. In the same breath as announcing Maduro’s capture, he talked about sending in “our very large United States oil companies,” and about the U.S. “running” Venezuela's government “until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”
This is the raw material of unintended consequences: blowback, corruption, and the kind of protracted entanglement that turns “just this once” into the next twenty years.
Count me out. I've seen this story before, and I don't like how it ends. 12:26PM 4 Jan 2026.
Overhead, the extraction forces were protected by aircraft from the U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the Air National Guard. The protection package included F-22s, F-35As, F-35Bs, F/A-18E/Fs, EA-18Gs, E-2Ds, B-1B bombers, and other support aircraft, as well as numerous remotely piloted drones.
As the package approached Caracas, the joint air component “began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems, employing weapons to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters into the target area.”
Delta Force arrived at Maduro’s compound at 01:01 AM EST (02:01 AM local time) on 3 January and descended into the compound. “While apprehending the indicted persons on arrival into the target area, the helicopters came under fire and they replied with overwhelming force in self-defense.”
Maduro and his wife surrendered and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice, assisted by the U.S. military, with no loss of U.S. life. After securing Maduro, the force began to prepare for departure “Helicopters were called in to exfiltrate the extraction force while fighter aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft provided overhead coverage and suppressive fire. There were multiple self-defense engagements. As the force began to withdraw out of Venezuela, the force successfully exfiltrated and returned to their afloat launch bases, and the force was over the water.”
By 03:29 AM EST, the 160 SOAR MH-47G Chinook transporting the VIP touched down on amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) in the Caribbean Sea. LHD 7, with its air combat element (ACE) practicing agile combat employment (ACE) in Puerto Rico, has served as a mobile hub for special operations forces in USSOUTHCOM.
One helo was hit during the engagement, but remained operational, and all aircraft made it home safely. Source: Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. https://x.com/i/status/2007646314859794925
This channel presents geopolitical analysis inspired by realist international relations
theory, public lectures, and published academic work. We synthesize these ideas into
accessible content using AI voice technology to enhance clarity and engagement.
Our aim is to amplify important geopolitical perspectives by making them easier to
understand for wider audiences, helping reach and educate more people about critical
international relations topics.
Nothing on this channel is financial or medical advice. Our channel's content is based on publicly available information, academic research, and analytical commentary. We may use AI models to help with video production and publishing processes.
Mearsheimer's Warning: Russia's Venezuela Move Just Changed Everything The New Cuban Missile Crisis. Mearsheimer informs, "NATO's expansion will compel Russia to act. The expansion threat of the USA declared by Bush shall compel Russia. It is not an ideological problem. It is a structural problem. Structure of the International system, anarchy in the absence of a higher authority, the emerging power or the other existing power has to act. There is no trust now between USA and Russia. It is a security dilemma. Each state acts rationally as per its interests. This is a tragedy of great power politics. They believe in dominance. Mearsheimer is realistic. The security spiral is evident in Venezuela. Actions have consequences.
Venezuela invasion imminent? Trump just announced military intervention to destroy drug cartels, and Maduro responded with direct provocation that could trigger America's next forever war. John Mearsheimer reveals why this drug war gamble could cost everything - and why nobody in Washington wants to admit the truth about what's really happening.**
In this critical analysis, Professor John Mearsheimer exposes the dangerous strategic miscalculations driving Trump toward military intervention in Venezuela. While mainstream media focuses on drug cartels and Maduro's rhetoric, Mearsheimer reveals the real stakes: Russian and Chinese military support, regional destabilization, and the potential for catastrophic escalation that could drag America into another unwinnable conflict.
๐ฅ KEY TOPICS COVERED:
• Trump's Venezuela invasion plan and military timeline
• Maduro's provocative alliance with Russia, China, and Iran
• Why the "drug war" narrative is a dangerous illusion
• The strategic trap that could trigger WW3-level escalation
• How Venezuela differs from Iraq, Afghanistan, and past interventions
• The bipartisan foreign policy consensus that produces disasters
• Russian anti-aircraft systems and Chinese intelligence sharing
• Why destroying cartels in Venezuela won't stop fentanyl deaths
• The offensive realism framework that predicts catastrophe
• What happens when cornered regimes have nothing to lose
0:00 - Introduction: The Numbers That Changed Everything
2:15 - Trump's Drug War Announcement
4:30 - Maduro's Calculated Provocation
7:45 - The Strategic Trap Washington Doesn't See
11:20 - Russia, China & Iran: The Real Power Behind Venezuela
15:10 - Why This Isn't Panama, Grenada, or Iraq
John Mearsheimer has accurately predicted every major American foreign policy disaster of the past 30 years - from the Iraq War to Ukraine. His framework of offensive realism explains why nations make catastrophic mistakes despite overwhelming evidence. If you want to understand what's really happening in Venezuela beyond the propaganda and headlines, this analysis is essential viewing.
• The Tragedy of Great Power Politics - Mearsheimer's foundational work
• Why Trump's drug war strategy mirrors failed interventions
• How Russia and China are reshaping the Western Hemisphere
• The bipartisan consensus that produces forever wars
This channel provides deep-dive geopolitical analysis based on realist international relations theory. We don't repeat State Department talking points. We examine the strategic logic, historical patterns, and structural forces that actually drive great power behavior.
for more unfiltered foreign policy analysis that mainstream media won't give you. Turn on notifications so you never miss critical updates on Venezuela, US-China competition, NATO expansion, and the emerging multipolar world order.
if you value honest analysis over comfortable propaganda. Share it with anyone who needs to understand the real stakes in Venezuela before it's too late.
Do you think Trump will actually invade Venezuela? What would you do if you were in his position? Let's discuss in the comments - all perspectives welcome.
29 January 2026
