Many legal experts say the Trump administration's attack on Venezuela broke international law. They are setting up a challenge for the international community, right on the validity and purpose of international law. Because I think what you said about belief in international law down to the individual person speaks to something about international law that I've always felt, which is that it has a marketing problem. All that becomes massively harder when it acts in clear violation of international law and doesn't even try and justify its actions in the scope of international law. In fact, the UN charter was specifically designed to limit the use of force as a remedy for everyday violations of international law, lower violations of international law.

Source: International New York Times January 13, 2026 09:03 UTC