Everything is connected
An armed conflict exist when there is an armed confrontation between the armed forces of States, or between governmental authorities and
organized armed groups, or between such groups within a State.
“The shadow of the interventionist eagle looms over everyone equally. We urge you to put aside these differences.”
– Nestor Gregorio Vera
The leader of the largest dissident branch of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group called on other rebel groups to come together to fight US interventionism in the region.
If the Trump administration continues to move in this direction, the global situation is more likely to descend into chaos or conflict than to achieve stable equilibrium.
Time:
The message is clear: Washington will throw its weight around in the Western Hemisphere and it wants rivals located elsewhere, China and Russia especially, out—or at least out of critical sectors. It’s a doctrine elaborated clearly in an otherwise muddled national security strategy. In a nod to old-school gunboat diplomacy, it rests on threats and acts of violence. At least part of the point of the smash-and-grab operation in Venezuela was to display raw military power.
Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his “own morality,” brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world.
Asked in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Mr. Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
Continue reading “Trump: “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.””
A UN Human Rights report published Wednesday, January 7, 2026, concludes that Israel is violating international law prohibiting racial segregation and apartheid in the occupied West Bank. The findings reveal “a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank.”
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned, “This is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before”.
Continue reading “Israeli policy in West Bank ‘resembles apartheid’”
US Secretary of State Rubio and US War Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, told lawmakers, in a closed-door briefing to the Senate, the Trump administration does not plan to use ground troops in Venezuela, but American military will remain deployed around Venezuela indefinitely to provide “leverage” in stabilizing the region, according to more than a dozen lawmakers who attended the event.
“They are talking about stealing the Venezuelan oil at gunpoint, for an undefined period of time, as leverage to micromanage the country,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. “The scope and insanity of that plan is absolutely stunning.”
Trump said Wednesday – in a nearly two-hour interview with the NY Times – that he expected the US would be running Venezuela and extracting oil for its reserves for years, adding that the interim government in Venezuela is “giving us everything that we feel is necessary.”
During the wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Mr. Trump did not give a precise time range for how long the United States would remain Venezuela’s political overlord.
Leo Shane III, Connor O’Brien, and Joe Gould, Politico: Trump officials tell Congress: No troops in Venezuela https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/07/senators-venezuela-maduro-congress-00714417
David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, NYT: Trump Says U.S. Oversight of Venezuela Could Last for Years https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/us/politics/trump-interview-venezuela.html
Globe & Mail:
… A plausible scenario for US application of military force against Canada to seize our oil resources goes something like this. An independence referendum in Alberta – during which separatists receive a huge infusion of grey MAGA money – sees a majority vote to remain part of Canada, but with 30 per cent or more voting for separation. Mr. Trump declares the result is “fake” and that actual support for separation was “well over” 50 per cent. Alberta separatists then appeal to the US for help, claiming various kinds of oppression. The US moves troops to the northern Montana border and tells the rest of Canada that Alberta must be allowed to join America as the “51st state.”
“Greenland belongs to its people, and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations,” the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Denmark said in a joint statement on Tuesday January 6, 2026.
“NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up,” the statement said. “We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities, and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries.”
Continue reading “European leaders rally to support Denmark and Greenland”
A world divided into spheres of influence poses decisive new challenges to the sovereignty of the states inside them. Canada and Mexico will watch what happened in Venezuela and begin thinking the unthinkable. What if they have to defend themselves, not against Russia and China, but against their next-door neighbour?
The predators who promote spheres of influence promise us a more stable world: no more global policemen, no more universalist moral claims like human rights, warranting intrusion in the affairs of predators. Stability will be built henceforth on forthright moral relativism—what’s right for me is my business, what’s right for you is your business—and peace depends on armed deterrence in a law of the jungle.
In the world we’ve entered, weaker countries must learn self-reliance, resilience and guile to keep the predators at bay. A weak and divided Europe can’t continue to give America moral lessons, while trying to regulate America’s economic giants. Its entire rationale as a political project depends now on giving itself the capital markets to build their own economic strength and the military capability to defend themselves. Canada and Mexico must make a lot of new friends fast, establish new economic connections, and break down its internal barriers to an efficient and productive economy. If these middling powers face up to their own difficulties, a new multilateralism could take shape, brought into concert by their shared desire to hem in the power of the predators. If the middle powers band together, they might get through the 21st century with their sovereignties enhanced. If they go it alone or make the mistake of cozying up to one or other of the predators, they might find themselves swallowed up by one of the beasts.
Source: Michael Ignatieff’s Substack, January 4, 2026
In an interview with NBC News, Trump said new Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez was cooperating in the wake of the US military invasion into Venezuela’s capital that led to the capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, on Saturday, January 3, 2026.
Trump added his plans initially anticipated having to send in American forces again following the first operation, but that he currently does not believe a second attack will be necessary.
Still, Trump insisted that the US is “at war with people that sell drugs,” not with Venezuela.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty on Monday in New York City federal court to drug trafficking charges.
Source:
Jacob Wendler, Politico: Trump says he’s prepared to send more US troops to Venezuela if interim president doesn’t cooperate