The Grand Chessboard

Summary. Following the brazen January raid that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and the subsequent US-Israeli strikes that decapitated the Iranian leadership, the traditional map of global trade now stands incinerated. Beneath the usual rhetoric of regime changes, there may be another motive behind such drastic interventions — one that is targeted at Beijing. Although Trump had campaigned for re-election as a "peace president" after saying he preferred a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iran, this attack is being seen as an attempt to put pressure on China. Are these interventions also part of a broader strategy to constrain China by limiting its access to energy resources? Let’s explore!