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The US sphere of influence is bigger than it looks
Far from telling Russia and China that they’re free to operate in their own zones of interest, the seizure of Maduro can be viewed as a Trumpian challenge to them.
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The snatching of then President Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela by the US can be viewed as a Trumpian challenge to Russia and China, says the writer.
PHOTO: VINCENT ALBAN/NYTIMES
John Authers
There is an enticing way to rationalise the recent extraordinary events in Caracas. It means the return to spheres of influence, rather than a rules-based international order.
The US enjoys its own sphere in the Americas (under what we must now call the Donroe Doctrine). The extraordinary step of abducting the president of a nation of more than 30 million souls can be taken as a signal that Washington will focus on its own sphere while leaving Russia and China, the other powers of the moment, to their own preoccupations, notably in Ukraine and Taiwan. This would be a return to the blocs and diplomacy of the 19th century, much as renewed protectionism is ushering back a Victorian version of trade and capitalism.
