Finally, I would like to add that we should not romanticize international law. Like all laws it is flawed, often stupid and sometimes even immoral.

And this is not Iraq 2003, so the lazy comparison is irrelevant.

It has an ideologically determined regime that is utterly incompetent and hated by large parts of the population.

Lol no? The best comparison would be Panama 1989-1990.

So what? Everything is not Iraq 2003.

A lot of Venezuelans seem to disagree!

Furthermore, I am torn on the idea of might makes right. On the one hand, I think we must accept the fact that might often makes "right" (not in a normative sense sure). One the other hand, we should also recognize that a might makes right approach can also create dangerous second order effects.

Oh, I'm not a hardcore realist and I think the structural realist analysis of anarchy and uncertainty (and their policy prescriptions!) is flawed. I'm sceptical of the notion that the Kantian version was anything more than wishful thinking.

Everything is not Iraq 2003, at least try to study more armed conflicts.

I do not struggle with second order thinking, I just fundamentally disagree with you about the second order effects will be.

So what? Everything is not Iraq and the sky certainly did no fall men Noriega was deposed.

I also do not really understand why you bring up Libya and Afghanistan here since both those intervention were perfectly legal according to the UN-system.

Armed force to achieve geopolitical goals has already been legitimized a long time ago, buddy. Furthermore, there is nothing illegitimate about deposing a pro-Russian tyrant who is not even the legitimate head of state of his own country.

What a valuable contribution to the conversation! However, the only ones who are complete marks here are the people who are acting like useful idiots for Maduro and Russia's coalition of rogue states.

It is not the Cold War anymore and the most likely scenarios are still the ones I mentioned earlier, so spare me the anachronistic hypotheticals. Furthermore, Venezuelan military targets were not attacked for no reason, that is just incorrect.

Likeliest scenario here is a sort of deal between Gonzalez and the old regime akin to that in pre-coup Myanmar between the NLD and the Tatmadaw.

soldiers are walking down a street with a tire in the middle of the street Alt: Soldiers comically and unsuccessfully trying to stop a rolling tire

High-end Russian air defense trying to stop an air assault that was telegraphed three months ago.

If it wasn't clear to everyone that Trump is not calling the shots when it comes to this first press conference announcing Miller and Rubio's war in Venezuela then it should be now.

It is never morally wrong to depose a tyrannical dictator. Furthermore, there is no indication that Maduro will be replaced by rightist dictator. On the contrary, the most likely scenarios are that the democratically elected president takes power or that someone from Maduro's government takes over.

Yes, anyone can walk up to me and try to punch me and I can either defend myself or seek protection from law enforcement, that is literally how reality works. Sadly, with the end of US unipolar power there is no international law enforcement, which complicates things on an international level.

That uncertainty is feature of the international system rather than a bug and I would argue that it is healthy for states to prepare for bad scenarios. We cannot always expect the US to ride in and save the day.

Literally any country can do that unilaterally if they are sufficiently capable. Furthermore, nothing in your post indicates that the US will oppose the restoration of democracy and you have still failed to present a viable alternative solution that results in the fall of the regime.

Yes, it is prefectly legitimate to despose an illegitimate dictator who consistently refused to step down. However, if you can present a better solution that would have resulted in the fall of the dictatorship you are very welcome to do so.

Things can always get worse. However, if the socialist tyrant had remained in power things would have inevitably gotten worse and with Maduro gone the people of Venezuela at least have a chance to create a better future for their country.

Pretty much all of this has already happened in Venezuela during Chavez and Maduro's rule and there was not exactly another viable way to remove the illegitimate regime.

The evening of Feb 24, 2022 featured Russian special forces units randomly shooting civilian vehicles and getting in firefights with TDF inside Kyiv as they were attempting to find and kill Zelensky

Aren’t states in the region (Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, etc.) the best judges of how much effect a PRC seizure of Taiwan would have on the region’s balance of power?

These are the guys who keep waving the English flag and claiming to be patriots.

Yet they’d side with their country’s enemy, Russia, in a war

App-Centric Warfare How To Dominate the 21st Century Battlefield

After much consideration, I have decided to apologize for my past statements, and I have embraced the need for the DoD to adopt the Silicon Valley Mindset.

I'm introducing what I would like to call App-Centric Warfare.

othermeans.io/p/app-centri...

What happened to Highway-Centric warfare?