Caracas falls, and the Middle East hears a warning

The arrest of Nicolás Maduro in a sudden United States military raid on Caracas has not merely ended a presidency. It has cracked open one of the most consequential fault lines in contemporary international politics, where sovereignty, energy security, humanitarian catastrophe and great-power rivalry collide in full view of the world. For Venezuela, this moment feels less like liberation than suspension: history holding its breath. For the Middle East—home to many of the Global South’s pivotal middle powers—what happened in Caracas resonates far beyond Latin America, because it reinforces a long-held fear that sovereignty is no longer a shield but a variable, enforced selectively by those with reach. States that balance energy wealth, fragile legitimacy, and strategic hedging now see […]