Author: Cozmin Gușă
Three full days have now passed since the U.S. aggression against Venezuela, and it seems as if nothing epochal has happened in the world. The United Nations is agitating uselessly, in a “much ado about nothing” fashion. Russia and China have sent only secondary-level officials to issue formal protests. Putin and his circle are celebrating Orthodox Christmas according to the old calendar, while Xi Jinping has welcomed two significant world leaders to Beijing—those of South Korea and Ireland. Notably, neither the Russian nor the Chinese leader has made any statement over these days regarding the United States or Donald Trump.
Under the title “Trump: Confessions of a Defeated Man,” I commented on Sunday on the international aggression against Venezuela and the capture of the Maduro couple, presenting three working hypotheses. The first was that Trump ordered the operation without consulting Putin and Xi. The second: that the White House leader was confronted with a fait accompli, the operation having been dictated by the Deep State. The third: that Trump, Putin, and Xi had reached an understanding prior to the operation. My conclusion at the time was that, in all three scenarios, Trump and the United States would come out badly. I stand by that conclusion today.
That said, three days after the event, I am now convinced that the third hypothesis—the most cynical one, and the one I initially believed in the least—is in fact the correct one. Moreover, I note that with this operation, and with the beginning of 2026, we can now speak openly about the imposition of a New World Order—one in which the democracy that citizens of the world believed in for centuries will no longer exist as we have known it.
I reiterate the statement from the title and explain briefly: this marks the official end of the societal order based on the rule of law. The New World Order will operate according to the law of force and a form of democracy limited by autocracy. Trump and the United States have been tasked with assuming the opprobrium resulting from this radical transformation.
Can we still speak of a world governed by a set of international laws agreed upon and respected by states, grouped into global organizations? Clearly not. The rule of law no longer prevails. This process of dismantling the existing global structure began long ago—roughly twenty-five years back—with the events of 9/11, which I define as the self-sabotage of the Twin Towers in New York. From that moment, the shift became visible in international politics.
At the time, the United States was still overwhelmingly stronger than its main adversaries—who even then were Russia and China. Under those conditions, no one dared oppose Washington. And so, for a quarter of a century, we lived under the illusion of the rule of law, even though the law of force had already been imposed globally.
For three days now, a map has been circulating on social media showing the world divided between Trump, Putin, and Xi. Though amateurishly drawn, it clearly suggests the new reality. This is not about a redistribution of the world into formally recognized spheres of influence governed by international law, but about the economic and security interests of the United States, Russia, and China.
I say again: the New World Order will be based on the law of force and democracy limited by autocracy. From now on, this is undeniable. All global leaders have understood that the excessive military power of the United States has, over the past 25 years, been decisively counterbalanced by the combined military potential of Russia and China. Any new world war would annihilate all parties involved—meaning the world itself.
In other words, we long ago passed the stage in which America could threaten nuclear war while others accepted its dictates out of fear. Put differently, Russia and China together have forced the United States to submit—but they still need America as a partner in implementing the New World Order.
If the rhythm of the new global “dance” is Russo-Chinese, then the model of societal organization across countries cannot differ much from Russo-Chinese realities. That is why I say that from now on we will speak only of democracy limited by autocracy—a model Russia has mastered over the past thirty years. China may move toward something similar, though not too quickly. And the United States, after the fraud-tainted 2020 presidential election and the Deep State’s dominance during Joe Biden’s term, has clearly shown that it has no difficulty adopting such a model either.
The difference lies here: in Russia, the autocrat is clearly embodied by Putin and his siloviki; in China, by the Communist Party. In America, however, this autocrat has yet to be defined. It will undoubtedly be an entity acceptable to the Russo-Chinese bloc. It is far too early to sketch a profile of this entity—it will be an operation of great complexity.
Do not expect mass uprisings from citizens accustomed to classical democracy. If they do occur, they will be swiftly crushed by force. The crushing of the active, living Venezuelan people serves perfectly as a demonstration model for implementing this new form of democracy limited by autocracy.
I also stated in the title that Trump and the United States were tasked with assuming the opprobrium of this radical shift. This has become clear over the past three days, and it happened because, of the three hyperpowers, the United States is the one in the most critical economic position. It desperately needs resources—including Venezuela’s—to maintain its stability. As I demonstrated earlier, the U.S. is also heavily dependent on Chinese financing through bond purchases to prevent its financial infrastructure from collapsing.
Thus, exactly as in gangster-style agreements, the Russian and the Chinese assigned the American the dirty work: attacking a peaceful state and illegally arresting its sitting president. In doing so, Russia and China also definitively killed the myth that the United States stood for democracy and the rule of law. From now on, all three hyperpowers share the same international status and act jointly to impose the law of force.
How things will unfold from here, we will all experience firsthand. Adaptation to this new reality will be extremely difficult—but unavoidable. Those who fail to adapt will be swiftly disciplined by the designated regional hegemon. The world map divided into three is not entirely accurate, but it offers a fairly faithful image of the future domination game.
As for Venezuela specifically: under the new leadership of Delcy Rodríguez—carefully trained over recent decades under the guidance of Sergei Lavrov—the country will follow the pre-established roadmap agreed upon before Saturday’s events. Elections will likely take place in the spring or later. Corina Machado, the Nobel laureate of Western High Finance, may participate, but she will have no chance of winning. Delcy Rodríguez or another figure approved by the Putin–Trump–Xi triangle will be declared Venezuela’s future leader.
The United States and China will divide Venezuela’s resources, and this will become the geo-economic model for South American states—already tied into China’s investment networks—to build their future. As for Maduro’s fate: just as Syria’s Assad lives out his days in Russia as a protected pensioner in a luxury prison, I foresee a similar destiny for the Venezuelan—this time in the United States or in an American satellite state. Maduro knows this, and if he wants to stay alive, he too will play the assigned role.
I know what I describe is cynical and incompatible with most people’s life plans. But you must understand, friends, that the world had become far too unsanitary a place. The greed of savage capitalism decisively defeated democracy, for which citizens—intoxicated by the apparent benefits of excessive consumption—are no longer willing or able to fight. They lack both the spirit and the means. What remains is the acceptance of avatars of severely restricted freedom. It is not pleasant. But it is true. And this is what the people of the planet will receive from now on, just like in life: exactly what they deserve.
