The US May Conquer the Americas But Lose the World
Not everyone sees the US as a liberator.
Photographer: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images
US presidents have long pledged to prioritize the Western Hemisphere — to put the Americas First, so to speak. Donald Trump is doing it today. The world waits to see if Trump will strike Venezuela, as the Pentagon masses planes and warships in the Caribbean. But coercing Nicolás Maduro’s autocratic, anti-US regime is merely part of a larger campaign to reassert America’s hemispheric hegemony. That campaign is rooted in history and sound strategic logic. It is also fraught with unanswered questions and serious risks.
“The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over,” Secretary of State John Kerry announced in 2013. Not so fast, Trump has long rejoined. During Trump’s first term, his administration promised to resurrect that two-century old doctrine. It sought, unsuccessfully, to rid the region of Maduro. Trump launched his second term with an inaugural address that seemed like it was stolen from the 19th century. He has pushed a forceful agenda of hemispheric primacy ever since.