Regime change and “nation building” have not gone well for the US in recent years. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in April 2003, for example, or the long but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to keep the Taliban from power in Afghanistan are two obvious US foreign policy failures in the 21st century.
The American political scientist Francis Fukuyama noted the irony that US President Donald Trump openly criticised his predecessors for what he called “forever wars” and yet Mr Trump has now opened up a new conflict in Venezuela that may last a long time. This conflict began with naval manoeuvres then the capture and overthrow of the unpopular Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, but it is unclear where or how it may end.
The unpredictable consequences of regime change could even outlast Mr Trump’s term in the White House.
On a military level, US experts at West Point, American allies and also potential opponents will study the daring operation to snatch Mr Maduro for years to come. It could easily have gone wrong. It didn’t, unlike former president Jimmy Carter’s 1980 attempt to rescue 52 US hostages in Tehran.
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