The Monroe Doctrine and the Invasion of Venezuela

President Trump likes to argue that his decision to kidnap the president of Venezuela and “run” that country for a long time to come was motivated by the Monroe Doctrine or by the need to deal with narco-terrorism. Both of these claims make no sense. It is now clear that his main goal was to steal Venezuela’s oil. This venture is an unvarnished case of old-fashioned imperialism. As such, it is almost certain to fail.

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John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He is the author of seven books, including How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy (with Sebastian Rosato, 2023), The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities (2018), and Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics (2011). Mearsheimer has also written many articles that have appeared in academic journals like International Security, and popular magazines like Foreign Affairs and the London Review of Books. Furthermore he has written op-ed pieces for newspapers like the New York Times and the Financial Times dealing with topics like Bosnia, nuclear proliferation, US policy towards India, the failure of Arab-Israeli peace efforts, the folly of invading Iraq, the causes of the Ukrainian crisis, and the likelihood of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.