The United States military operation in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026 ended months of military buildup and targeted attacks in the Caribbean Sea. This fulfills President Donald Trump’s claim to exert authoritarian control over the Western Hemisphere, as articulated in his administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy.
Some national security experts believe that US military action in Venezuela – carried out without congressional approval or authorization from the UN Security Council – is illegal and could violate national and international law.
The attack on Venezuela represents the clearest example during Trump’s second presidency of the shift from traditional American values of democratic freedom and rules-based international order toward a United States that exercises unilateral power based solely on perceived economic interests and military force. Autocratic leaders are not limited by law or the balance of power, using force to impose their will on others.
So what does this transition from a globally liberal America to an autocratic America look like? After decades of international work on democracy and peacebuilding, three interrelated areas of American foreign policy are crumbling.
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1. Peace and conflict prevention
The Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela reflect its “peace through strength” approach to international relations, which emphasizes military power. They also reflect the administration’s emphasis on economic pressure and victories as a deterrent to war and a tool for peace.
This approach contrasts with decades of diplomatic efforts to build lasting peace processes.
Foreign policy experts point out that the Trump administration’s emphasis on trade negotiations in its foreign relations, focused on bartering between positions, loses sight of the objective of peacebuilding, which is to address the underlying interests shared by the parties and generate the trust necessary to confront the factors that cause conflict.
Trump’s focus on deals also contravenes the world’s traditional trust in the United States as an honest mediator and reliable economic partner that supports free trade. Trump made clear that US interest in oil is a key reason for the attack on Venezuela.
Before Venezuela, the limits of the Trump administration’s approach were already evident in the global conflicts that Trump claims to have stopped, such as the ongoing violence between Thailand and Cambodia and ceasefire violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Furthermore, US experience and resources for sustainable peacebuilding and conflict prevention disappeared.
The State Department’s entire Office of Conflict Stabilization Operations was dismantled in May 2025, while funding for conflict prevention and key peace programs, such as Women, Peace and Security, was cut.
Trump’s unilateral military action against Venezuela belies any genuine commitment to sustainable peace.
Although it is too early to predict Venezuela’s future under US control, the Trump administration’s approach will likely lead to more conflict and global violence in 2026, as major powers begin to understand the new rules and learn to play this new game.
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2. Democracy and human rights
Since the 1980s, US national security strategies have incorporated aspects of democracy promotion and human rights as American values.
Trump did not highlight human rights and democracy as justification for capturing Maduro. The administration has so far rejected claims to the Venezuelan leadership from opposition figure María Corina Machado and Edmundo González, widely considered the legitimate winner of the 2024 presidential election.
Much of US foreign policy to build democracy globally and promote human rights was delivered through foreign assistance, which in 2024 was worth more than $3 billion. The Trump administration reduced it by almost 75% in 2025.
These funds sought to promote fair elections, support civil societies and free media globally, and also help create independent and corruption-free judicial systems in many countries, including Venezuela.
Since 1998, for example, the US has financed 85% of the $10 million annual budget of the now-endangered UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. This fund helps survivors recover from torture in the US and around the world.
The State Department’s annual human rights report, mandated by Congress, signaled the Trump administration’s intent to undermine key human rights obligations of foreign governments.
However, the White House has used tariffs, sanctions and military strikes to punish countries on alleged human rights grounds, such as Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa. Furthermore, his rhetoric criticizes European democracies and shows a willingness to favor political parties that reject human rights.
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3. International cooperation
A traditional goal of US foreign policy has been to counter threats to US security that require cooperation with other governments.
But the Trump administration ignores or denies many transnational threats, including terrorism, nuclear proliferation, pandemics, new technologies and climate change.
Furthermore, the tools that the US helped build to confront shared global threats, such as international law and multilateral organizations like the UN, were discredited and undermined.
Even before the attack on Venezuela, academics warned about the collapse of the international norm, established in the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force by one sovereign country against another, except in specific cases of legitimate defense.
In early 2025, Trump signaled the end of much of the US’s multilateral engagement, withdrawing the country from numerous international bodies, agendas and treaties.
The administration proposed eliminating its contributions to U.N. agencies, such as the children’s fund, and this year allocates only $300 million to the U.N., about a fifth of the dues it is legally required to pay. A looming budget crisis now threatens this only global deliberative body.
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Meanwhile, the Trump administration claims that migration and drug trafficking, including from Venezuela, are the biggest security threats. Their solutions – continuing US economic and military power in the Americas – ignore shared challenges such as corruption and human trafficking, which generate these threats and undermine US economic security.
There is also evidence that the Trump administration is not only disregarding international law and retreating from the US’s historic respect for international cooperation, but seeking to reshape policy in its image and punish those who disagree.
For example, his call to redefine global protections for refugees — to undermine the principle that prohibits returning people to a country where they could be persecuted — would upend decades of international and U.S. law. The administration has already dismantled much of the US refugee program, reducing the 2025 quota to historic levels.
Even for those who work in international institutions, there could be a cost to an illiberal America. For example, the Trump administration has financially sanctioned many judges and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court for their work.
The administration has also threatened more sanctions unless the court promises not to prosecute Trump, a challenge more evident now with apparent US aggression against Venezuela, a member of the International Criminal Court.
Some democracy experts fear that US military action in Venezuela will not only undermine international law, but also reinforce Trump’s project to undo the rule of law and democracy within his country.
This article was originally published on The Conversation
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