Disclaimer: We do not subscribe to, approve, or reject the geopolitical acts described, but instead aim to provide a critical and unbiased correlation of how these events impact the UN Charter and the future of state sovereignty.
This is another podcast in the series on ‘Beyond Global Waves‘. This week, we examine Operation Absolute Resolve (January 3, 2026), which marks a significant shift in global politics, as the U.S. military raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro challenges the foundational principles of the UN Charter. Under Article 2(4), states must refrain from the threat or use of force against the political independence of any sovereign state. Yet, the U.S. has paired this intervention with rhetoric about running Venezuela and securing its oil sector, which holds approximately 20% of global reserves. This Donroe Doctrine (a modern, more assertive iteration of the traditional Monroe Doctrine) signals a retreat from a rules-based international order toward a world of unilateral intervention and competing spheres of influence.
Striking parallels exist between the U.S. intervention in Venezuela and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as both actions disregard sovereign boundaries in favour of regime-change logic and strategic resource control. While the U.S. frames its actions as a ‘special law enforcement action’ and Russia claims denazification, the operational results, the forced removal or targeting of national leaders and the securing of industrial or energy corridors, fundamentally undermine the sovereignty-first architecture of the UN system. Such precedents normalise the notion that power can override borders, thereby eroding the global community’s capacity to mobilise legal pressure against aggression.
The erosion of international norms creates a dangerous roadmap for future flashpoints in Taiwan and Greenland. Analysts warn that the precedent in Venezuela emboldens Beijing’s narrative, suggesting that if the U.S. can unilaterally remove a foreign leader, China is equally justified in using force to achieve reunification. Simultaneously, the introduction of the Make Greenland Great Again Act and threats of forced acquisition against Denmark represent a potential ‘resource-driven annexation’. Any such move toward forced occupation would be an unambiguous violation of territorial integrity, potentially detonating alliance trust within NATO and rendering the UN Charter optional in practice.
Disclaimer: We do not subscribe to, approve, or reject the geopolitical acts described, but instead aim to provide a critical and unbiased correlation of how these events impact the UN Charter and the future of state sovereignty
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