I guess we've all seen the video where JD Vance says that Venezuela will be forced to serve US national interests. No doubt, what the US believes should apply to Venezuela, the US also believes should apply generally to others in its region and probably also it's various allies and partners too. It is not all that different to what the true intent has been in the past but now there is no veil over matters and of course now there is a predisposition to using bare knuckles instead of the old soft power principle. But the world is not what is was a century and more ago and people everywhere think and behave differently. In the end this Trump administration will also pass into history and what is ultimately going to emerge is a far diminished United States. The nett effect is that the global south will look ever more to China for leadership and support. China of course does not want the role of hegemon but just possibly US behaviour is going to leave it with little choice but to assume that role to some greater or lesser degree. As with the US, it will be both blessing and curse but just possibly a millennium and a half of Confuciam thinking may enable China to be wiser in its new role than its predecessor was.