THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) \u2014 From the smoldering wreckage of two catastrophic world wars in the last century, nations came together to build an edifice of international rules and laws. The goal was to prevent such sprawling conflicts in the future.<\/p>\n
Now that world order \u2014 centered at the United Nations headquarters in New York, near the courtroom where Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> was arraigned Monday<\/a> after his removal from power<\/a> in Venezuela \u2014 appears in danger of crumbling as the doctrine of \u201cmight makes right\u201d muscles its way back onto the global stage.<\/p>\n U.N. Undersecretary-General Rosemary A. DiCarlo told the body\u2019s Security Council on Monday that the \u201cmaintenance of international peace and security depends on the continued commitment of all member states to adhere to all the provisions of the (U.N.) Charter.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump insists capturing Maduro was legal. His administration has declared the drug cartels operating from Venezuela to be unlawful combatants and said the U.S. is now in an \u201carmed conflict\u201d<\/a> with them, according to an administration memo obtained in October by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n The mission to snatch Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their home on a military base in the capital Caracas means they face charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, defended the military action as a justified \u201csurgical law enforcement operation.\u201d<\/p>\n The move fits into the Trump administration\u2019s National Security Strategy<\/a>, published last month, that lays out restoring \u201cAmerican preeminence in the Western Hemisphere\u201d as a key goal of the U.S. president\u2019s second term in the White House.<\/p>\n But could it also serve as a blueprint for further action? <\/p>\n Worry rises about future action <\/p>\n On Sunday evening, Trump also put Venezuela\u2019s neighbor, Colombia, and its leftist president, Gustavo Petro<\/a>, on notice.<\/p>\n In a back-and-forth with reporters, Trump said Colombia is \u201crun by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.\u201d The Trump administration imposed sanctions in October on Petro, his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade. Colombia is considered the epicenter of the world\u2019s cocaine trade.<\/p>\n Analysts and some world leaders \u2014 from China to Mexico \u2014 have condemned the Venezuela mission. Some voiced fears that Maduro\u2019s ouster could pave the way for more military interventions and a further erosion of the global legal order.<\/p>\n French Foreign Minister Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot said the capture of Maduro \u201cruns counter to the principle of the non-use of force, which forms the basis of international law.\u201d<\/p>\n He warned the \u201cincreasing number of violations of this principle by nations vested with the important responsibility of permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council will have serious consequences for global security and will spare no one.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some global situations that could be affected by changing attitudes on such issues. <\/p>\n Ukraine<\/p>\n For nearly four years, Europe has been dealing with Russia\u2019s war of aggression in neighboring Ukraine<\/a>, a conflict that grates against the eastern flank of the continent and the transatlantic NATO alliance and has widely been labeled a grave breach of international law.<\/p>\n The European Union relies deeply on U.S. support to keep Ukraine afloat, particularly after the administration warned that Europe must look after its own security<\/a> in the future.<\/p>\n Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian ambassador to the U.N., said the mission to extract Maduro amounted to \u201ca turn back to the era of lawlessness\u201d by the United States. During the U.N. Security Council\u2019s emergency meeting, he called on the 15-member panel to \u201cunite and to definitively reject the methods and tools of U.S. military foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Volodymyr Fesenko, chairman of the board of the Penta think tank in Kyiv, Ukraine, said Russian President Vladimir Putin has long undermined the global order and weakened international law. <\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately,\u201d he said, \u201cTrump\u2019s actions have continued this trend.\u201d<\/p>\n Greenland<\/p>\n Trump fanned another growing concern for Europe when he openly speculated about the future of the Danish territory of Greenland.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,\u201d Trump told reporters Sunday as he flew back to Washington from his home in Florida. \u201cWe need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen<\/a> said in a statement that Trump has \u201cno right to annex\u201d the territory. She also reminded Trump that Denmark already provides the U.S., a fellow NATO member, broad access to Greenland through existing security agreements.<\/p>\n Taiwan<\/p>\n The mission to capture Maduro has ignited speculation about a similar move China could make against the leader of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te. Just last week, in response to a U.S. plan to sell a massive military arms package to Taipei, China conducted two days of military drills around the island democracy that Beijing claims as its own territory.<\/p>\n Beijing, however, is unlikely to replicate Trump\u2019s action in Venezuela, which could prove destabilizing and risky.<\/p>\n Chinese strategy has been to gradually increase pressure on Taiwan through military harassment, propaganda campaigns and political influence rather than to single out Lai as a target. China looks to squeeze Taiwan into eventually accepting a status similar to Hong Kong and Macau, which are governed semi-autonomously on paper but have come under increasing central control.<\/p>\n For China, Maduro\u2019s capture also brings a layer of uncertainty about the Trump administration\u2019s ability to move fast, unpredictably and audaciously against other governments. Beijing has criticized Maduro\u2019s capture, calling it a \u201cblatant use of force against a sovereign state\u201d and saying Washington is acting as the \u201cworld\u2019s judge.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the United States had \u201cwantonly trampled on Venezuela\u2019s sovereignty and security.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mideast<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s grinding attack on Gaza in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas underscored the international community\u2019s inability to stop a devastating conflict. The United States, Israel\u2019s staunchest ally, vetoed Security Council resolutions<\/a> calling for ceasefires in Gaza.<\/p>\n Trump already has demonstrated his willingness to take on Israel\u2019s neighbor and longtime U.S. adversary Iran over its nuclear program with military strikes on sites in Iran<\/a> in June 2025.<\/p>\n On Friday, Trump warned Iran<\/a> that if Tehran \u201cviolently kills peaceful protesters,\u201d the U.S. \u201cwill come to their rescue.\u201d Violence sparked by Iran\u2019s ailing economy has killed at least 35 people<\/a>, activists said Tuesday.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry condemned the \u201cillegal U.S. attack against Venezuela.\u201d <\/p>\n Europe and Trump<\/p>\n The 27-nation European Union, another post-World War II institution intended to foster peace and prosperity, is grappling with how to respond to its traditional ally under the Trump administration. In a clear indication of the increasingly fragile nature of the transatlantic relationship, Trump\u2019s national security strategy<\/a> painted the bloc as weak.<\/p>\n