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The great unravelling has begun

As the most powerful states disregard limits on the lawful use of force, we may be slipping into a world of frequent war.

Smoke billowing over Caracas after a series of explosions during a US military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Madruo on Jan 3.

PHOTO: AFP

Oona Hathaway

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US President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a secretive predawn military operation in Venezuela to

grab President Nicolas Maduro

is a blatant assault on the international legal order. The action threatens to end an era of historic peace and return us to a world in which might makes right. The cost will be paid in human lives.

Last year marked the

80th anniversary of the 1945 U

nited

ations

Charter

, a document signed by 51 nations at the close of World War II. The signatories pledged to act “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. The great powers have not gone to war with one another since, and no UN member state has disappeared as a result of conquest.

The great unravelling has begun

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