Paul Beckett

So the world order was established after World War II.

And so the United States and its Western allies decided to establish rules that would govern the international system.

And along with that, a series of institutions, including, by the way, the United Nations.

And what they were trying to do is set up a system of law, international law, norms and rules in order to prevent a third world war.

So the idea was that force, the use of force, the use of the military was no longer going to be an acceptable form of politicking, right, international politicking on the global arena.

He's trying to reestablish the U.S.

sphere of influence, its control over the Western hemisphere, right?

And a sphere of influence, it's best understood as control without rule.

So with states within a sphere, right, they're sovereign on paper.

They have their own government, right?

They have their own borders, their own money, and they have international recognition.

But their strategic choices are restrained by the great power.

And in this case, it's the United States, right?

And so the United States, what it's doing is it's saying under President Trump and his administration is that they can't freely choose alliances, trade partners, right, without crossing lines or without getting agreement from the United States.

We know that he wants the Western sphere under U.S.

control.

This was part of the national security strategy that was released.

And it's very clear that the United States is going to dominate the region.

You can look at what is done in Venezuela, where it just said Venezuela can no longer have relations with China, trade relations formally with China and with Russia, shutting off the oil.

But paradoxically, it also wants to have global reach.