Power Without Permission
The modern international order rests on a fragile promise: that sovereignty matters, that borders and elected governments are not overridden by raw power.
Yet recent events have revived an uncomfortable question—how much that promise still holds when confronted by the might of the United States.
The speed and decisiveness with which Washington can neutralise a foreign leader—reportedly within an hour—may impress strategists. But it should alarm anyone who believes in a rules-based world.
Power exercised without consent, mandate, or transparency erodes the very norms the United States claims to defend.
This is not an argument for impunity. Authoritarian leaders who repress their people and destabilise regions should be held accountable.
The problem lies in who decides, how, and under what authority. When one state acts as prosecutor, judge, and enforcer, legitimacy becomes collateral damage.
International law is weakened not only by those who break it, but by those who bypass it when convenient.
For countries like Venezuela, such actions risk deepening instability rather than resolving it.
External force can decapitate leadership, but it rarely rebuilds institutions. It can remove a figurehead, but it cannot manufacture trust, heal economies, or reconcile divided societies.
History offers a consistent lesson: power can topple, but it cannot govern.
There is also a broader consequence. If the world’s most powerful democracy normalises unilateral coercion, others will follow—each citing necessity, each redefining legality.
The result is not order, but precedent. And precedents travel.
The United States remains indispensable to global stability. Its resources, alliances, and ideals matter.
Precisely for that reason, restraint matters more. Leadership is not measured by speed alone, but by process, legitimacy, and respect for collective rules.
A world governed by norms is slower and messier than one governed by force. But it is also fairer—and ultimately safer.
If sovereignty can be overridden in minutes, then it exists only at the pleasure of power. That is not an order. It is a warning.