Venezuela is a lesson in where power really lies today – Britain will be nothing more than a spectator unless it is heeded
President Donald Trump observes the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during Operation Absolute Resolve on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida (Credit: UPI/Alamy Live News)
4 min read
We are living in a new era. Every passing day exposes the practical limitations of the rules-based order in a time of world power rivalry, and the US action in Venezuela forces a reckoning on Britain.
The Prime Minister has had to navigate an exceptionally narrow path: welcoming the end of a brutal dictatorship while signalling concern about the precedents set by foreign intervention. Overall, he has struck that balance well.
National sovereignty remains an essential principle, and once that principle erodes, smaller states discover very quickly how exposed they really are. An international order grounded in norms that bind states to standards of behaviour – even one in which those norms are sometimes selectively or imperfectly applied – is, of course, preferable to the radical alternative: a world where the only constraint on the exercise of a state’s will is the size of its military.
Defence spending must rise faster than currently planned
There are clear arguments for why the capture of Nicolás Maduro on Venezuelan soil contravened international law, and the temptation to issue grand moral denunciations is understandable. But the more difficult task is to ask a harder, more consequential question: what can the UK now usefully do?
Condemning the US, regardless of the legal arguments involved, would achieve little for the people of Venezuela and even less for British interests. I do not say this to make the case for moral indifference. I mean it as an acknowledgement of the limits of our influence. In a world that increasingly operates on a might-is-right logic, those without hard power do not get a vote. After decades of defence cuts and a quiet erosion of economic and energy resilience, Britain’s capacity to shape outcomes through declaratory politics alone has sharply diminished.
None of this means that the UK should abandon the hope of a democratic transition in Venezuela. It should continue to press for one, working with partners where possible. But we should be sober about the fact that our words may carry little weight unless they are backed by capability. The uncomfortable truth is that influence follows strength, not the other way around.
The American operation in Venezuela has also clarified several broader geopolitical realities that Britain ignores at its peril. The core lesson is that the US is prioritising its primacy in the Americas over commitments to Nato and European security.
Secondly, the US has demonstrated a growing readiness to interfere directly in the affairs of other states. Whatever one thinks of the Venezuelan case on its merits, this posture has implications that extend well beyond Latin America, particularly for smaller Nato allies who depend on predictable norms to compensate for limited power.
Thirdly, the operation itself underlined where modern power now resides: in air superiority, cyber dominance, intelligence capability, and the ability to integrate these assets at speed. These lessons point directly to what Britain must prioritise if it wishes to be more than a spectator.
The policy implications are straightforward, even if the execution will be demanding. Defence spending must rise faster than currently planned. Commitments to reach 2.6 per cent of GDP by 2027 and three per cent in the next parliament are a solid start, but the pace no longer matches the risks we face.
Britain must rebuild domestic industrial capacity in sectors critical to defence and national infrastructure. An active industrial strategy is a security necessity. The government has made a stronger start here than its predecessors, but fragile supply chains and external shocks leave no room for complacency.
The lesson from Venezuela is not that principles no longer matter. It is that without strength, they are easily set aside. If the UK wants to protect itself – and to remain a credible voice for stability and democratic values – it must move faster and further to rebuild the foundations of its power. The world is changing quickly. Our response must do the same.
Dan Carden is Labour MP for Liverpool Walton
