Where is the international order in which civil society is meant to operate? Where is the United Nations, the very institution created to uphold global norms and collective security?
In a world where a wealthy, industrialized nation can, without consequence, seize the leader of a poor or developing country, call it “third world” or whatever euphemism we prefer, one must ask: under what conditions are we now living?
A closer observation shows that this pattern is not at all accidental; it appears to occur only where retaliation is impossible.
A U.S. president cannot, at will, seize the French president, arrest the Chinese leader abroad, or abduct the Russian head of state. Not even the brutal Kim Jong Un of North Korea would be touched in such a manner. Why? Because the consequences would be catastrophic, and global escalation would follow immediately.
Here lies the inconvenient truth many would rather ignore: the global order is structurally skewed in favor of the rich and powerful. Law restrains the strong only when the weak possess the capacity to impose costs. Where no such cost exists, the weak are overrun and often compelled to obey rules that the powerful routinely disregard.
This is the real danger confronting the Global South. If this action of the United States goes unchallenged, if it becomes normalized that powerful states may abduct foreign leaders or invoke domestic electoral victories to justify force abroad, then no leader in a weak state is truly protected by law, institutions, or norms.
Today it is a president.
Tomorrow, a minister.
Next, a dissident.
Eventually, a private citizen.
Where does it end?
Folks, this is no longer about Maduro or Venezuela. What has occurred today can happen to any poor or defenseless nation, particularly in the Global South. The question before us is not ideological but our very civilization: what kind of world are we constructing when power replaces law?
If the United Nations proves unwilling or unable to hold the United States accountable for violating international law and the global order, then developing nations must confront an uncomfortable conclusion: their continued participation in such an organization demands serious reconsideration.
They must register their protest, and a collective boycott may not only be justified but also necessary.
By LaBode Obanor,
Obanor serves as President of the League for Social Justice (LSJ), a Nigerian organization focused on civic advocacy, social justice, and public policy
