The first days of 2026 reveal a world reshaped by fractures and force. From Venezuela to Iran, through financial instability and imperial shadows over Greenland, the United States now claims open authority in several theatres — projecting a power that borders on recklessness. But behind the headlines, disturbing signs emerge: shifting balances, broken norms, and a diplomacy increasingly governed by unilateralism.
The Arrest of Maduro: Operation or International Breach?
In early January 2026, US special forces conducted a direct intervention in Caracas, arresting former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and flying him to the United States, where he now faces charges for drug trafficking and arms smuggling. Maduro denounced the operation as an “international kidnapping,” while Washington celebrated it as a strategic breakthrough.
Installed in his place, interim president Delcy Rodríguez — widely seen as more acceptable to US interests — governs under the heavy watch of American advisors and Venezuelan military defectors. Caracas has since descended into a tense calm: paramilitary groups enforce the new status quo, while loyalist factions denounce a foreign occupation.
This bold move, the first major gesture of US global interventions 2026, has drawn both praise and alarm. Some call it the end of a narco-regime. Others point to the erosion of sovereignty and the dangerous precedent of regime change by force — without UN mandate, without international consensus.
Iranian Protests and Negotiation Under Pressure
Simultaneously, Iran faces the most severe wave of internal unrest since 2009. Triggered by a deepening economic crisis, the protests have turned political — calling for regime change, constitutional reform, and the end of foreign entanglements. The government’s response: brutal repression, with hundreds killed and tens of thousands detained.
Yet amid this crackdown, Iranian officials have signaled a willingness to return to the negotiating table — albeit “on equal footing,” as Tehran insists. For now, ambiguity reigns: the regime oscillates between iron fist and diplomatic signaling, while regional players — notably Israel and Saudi Arabia — observe, armed and wary.
For Washington, US global interventions 2026 could now expand to a second front. Trump’s administration has publicly considered “retaliatory actions” against Iran if civilian casualties continue. The red lines are being drawn, and behind the scenes, one senses military planning already underway.
The Fed under Fire: Economic Warfare or Internal Purge?
Amid the chaos abroad, domestic tremors shake the American financial system. Toward the end of 2025, influential figures in Washington began targeting the Federal Reserve — blaming it for persistent inflation, market imbalances, and “sabotage of national interests.”
Talk of lawsuits, criminal investigations, and even structural reforms has emerged, signaling a possible purge of technocratic elites. Whether this is a tactical distraction or a prelude to centralized economic control remains to be seen, but the Fed’s independence appears more fragile than ever.
The markets, as always, sense instability before the press reports it. US bonds wobble. Gold surges. Investors retreat.
Greenland, Cuba, Colombia: The Neo-Monroe Doctrine
Following the success of the Maduro operation, President Trump publicly warned Cuba, Colombia, Iran — and Greenland — that they could be “next.”
Yes, Greenland. The icy territory, officially part of Denmark, has once again attracted US interest, under the pretext of “national security.” Rumors abound of mineral contracts, secret military installations, and a long-term objective to establish a North Atlantic dominance — possibly outside NATO structures.
Cuba, too, stands once again in Washington’s crosshairs. Trump’s language is blunt: “regimes hostile to the American people will be dealt with.” The neoconservative project has returned — but this time cloaked in populist nationalism.
The US global interventions 2026 appear not as isolated acts, but as pieces of a grander strategy: to reassert hemispheric dominance, neutralize foreign challengers, and, in the process, dismantle the last remnants of multilateral diplomacy.
The Shape of Chaos to Come
The world of early 2026 is neither multipolar nor stable. Instead, we see fragmentation, force projection, and strategic ambiguity — led above all by a United States emboldened by its capacity to act without constraint.
The arrest of a head of state, suppression of popular uprisings, threats of military action against multiple nations, and internal power plays within its own institutions — all point to a new age of imperial volatility. Whether this order can be sustained, or whether it breeds further collapse, will define the months to come.
