Donald Trump ordered to take control of Venezuela, in particular its oil resources, and for good measure, also ordered the abduction of its president Nicolás Maduro, who is now detained with his wife and probably already extradited to the US. This is another gross violation of international law that pushes the world closer to its brim.

Trump has always been a sort of a buffoon but still one that commanded respect if not admiration on the basis of his political stance of non-interventionism and his avowed declarations of restoring world stability. This was in direct opposition with the US general politics over the last decades and a first, as well as much needed step to heal international relations, by agreeing to some equilibrium of power and collaborations based on diplomacy and obedience to international laws.

Now that he too, like his predecessors, succumbed to the worst offenses of the USA against international law to single-handedly stage a coup against a sovereign country, for obvious illegal geopolitical interest and the looting of national resources, the respect and moral authority vanished and only the buffoon remains. Now he earned himself a Nobel peace prize. He'll probably get one.

This does not make Trump less of a major and successful political figure, as still keeping the upper hand in an increasingly fierce worldwide competition where the US dominance is fading, but one who does so through the facility of pure force, and who sides as a result with the other criminals that preceded him, being in addition buffonesque while his predecessors were merely puppets of an establishment, but trying to maintain forms and act with decorum.

It is disappointing that he didn't try harder to keep his country afloat while still entering History as a great, responsible and visionary leader. He might delay the collapse of the US with such pillaging—and this is not even clear as he might also hurry World War III which will accelerate its fall—but this will inevitably be a delay only, as there is no long-term thriving on crime. He had a chance to act towards a safer, multipolar order based on mutual respects and obedience to international law. He decided to be more practical and take what he can while he still can. That's disappointing. I have now the same feelings for him than most of the planet, after hoping that being an outsider might provide him with the more noble motives of a self-made historical figure, which don't have to be those of merely a politician.

The main question now becomes what will China do. It is clear that international order does not rule anymore and that big powers now can—not to say should—do what they feel is best for their interests, let alone necessary for their own preservation. In this context, failure of China to similarly seize assets it believes belong to it sphere of influence and that might escape it critically otherwise, will be a clear sign of weakness, in a time where realism and practicality took over diplomacy and legality. Prominently, this concerns Taiwan, which has also been the source of tensions recently. It would be ethically right, but surprising, and also geopolitically asinine, for China to remain—not even neutral anymore, but as of today—to remain passive.

China would have no difficulty—worse still, they would have complete political legitimacy—in similarly imposing their will in all questions of what they deem is their supreme national interest. Who could oppose them? Neither the US nor Russia would have neither the military capacity nor the moral standing to do so. They would condemn it, and that's it. In fact, they would not even have the motives to do so, being served on their turf. Even the rest of the world would shake their heads in sorry recognition of the obvious, with no stamina left to further decry it. China has at least as good arguments as Russia with Ukraine and definitely stronger arguments than US with Venezuela (the narco-traffic is a pathetic masquerade) to take over Taiwan. They can make up as many reasons as they wish, and few would be more ridiculous than those alleged to take down Maduro.

We are now in the aftermath of a crime scene. We can expect more tragedy to unfold. I believe the most obvious next escalation will be Taiwan. It would be quite surprising from China to let other great powers take their share of the world's resources, at their expense (a Chinese delegation was discussing plans for collaborations and investments hours before Maduro's abduction), with no other reaction than formal protests. It would be admirable, but almost to the point of foolishness.

In fact, we can even suspect that the sharing of the world has been effected a long time ago already, with Russia taking over the eastern part of Ukraine and China Taiwan, as the US would take over South America. Maybe Greenland has not yet been settled. It all looks like a modern installment of Yalta, anyway. And if not one explicitly agreed upon, at least one tacitly accepted.

Would China be able to remain within legal boundaries while everybody else tramples them, it would be either an exceptional demonstration of force and self-confidence, or a first step towards their relinquishing their emergence as a global, international superpower, to remain confined within its provincial borders today, and endangered itself tomorrow.

All this started decades ago with the US when they started to invade the Middle-East in a similar fashion, encouraging, if not compelling, others to follow in their wake. Although it didn't serve them well, now they go for another round of looting, which can only further encourage others to do the same.

Those are worrying and sad circumstances.