Right at the start, when tariffs were imposed, the world—particularly Europe—should have drawn a clear line, pushing for a different order or forcing a reversal. Instead, accommodation prevailed. The result has been a steady expansion of demands, overt abuses, and an absence of collective reaction

Internationally, U.S. disruption would not be nearly as consequential without Western acquiescence. Instead of resisting abuse, allies have repeatedly chosen accommodation.

The U.S. crisis is rooted in internal processes: institutional erosion, social fragmentation, and political dynamics that were neither properly understood nor effectively addressed in time

Not that Chavismo did things right. But in that regard, they seem to have hit the mark.

4. This leaves us in a world where military conflicts become more frequent—sometimes arising from local or spontaneous differences, other times following the designs of great powers. With no law or order, and crude power politics as the dominant dynamic, this is the most likely outcome.

3. In the absence of any guarantee that international law will be respected—while the most powerful country acts as an unchecked bully and the rest of the world with real power remains passive—the only viable resource is to become as militarily powerful as possible.

2. Ideology has become secondary to strategic interests in their crudest form. Alignment may appear ideological, but this is largely superficial and temporary. What ultimately justifies actions and alignments is crude power politics.

1. There is not a minimal moral ground left from which to speak of liberty, democracy, human rights, or respect for international law. And this This is was democratically elected, again. Even more telling is the absence of any meaningful reaction from the rest of the “West.”