Trump's plan to run the hemisphere scares friends and puzzles foes

resident Trump's new“ Donroe Doctrine "— loudly proclaimed by the seizure of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the president’s assertion that Washington now “runs” the Latin American country—seeks to establish U.S. hegemony over the entire Western Hemisphere.

- Yaroslav Trofimov

Trump has already signaled potential American intervention in Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Greenland and Iran.

(REUTERS)

The question America’s adversaries and allies are asking themselves in the aftermath of the Caracas raid is whether this embrace of 19th-century-style imperial thinking also means a pivot away from the rest of the world that would give China and Russia greater sway in their neighborhoods.

“It's nota world dominance that Trump is trying to achieve, but a hemispheric dominance,” said German lawmaker Norbert Röttgen . “His worldview seems to be thinking in categories of spheres of influence—and dominance by those in other hemispheres who are the most powerful there, irrespective of rules, laws and alliances.

Buoyed by the success of the Jan. 3 operation in Venezuela , Trump has already signaled potential American intervention in Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, the Danish possession of Greenland—and, outside the Americas, Iran.

Russia and China, which have invested tens of billions of dollars and considerable diplomatic capital in the Maduroregime, have reacted with restraint. In part, that is because they hope Washington will now be more accommodating of their own aspirations in Europe and Asia, respectively, either by design or because of inherent limits on American resources.

“Beijing is captivated by Trump’sinterest in spheresof influence of major powers,” said Tong Zhao , a senior fellow at Carnegie China. “It’s interested in exploring whether the U.S. is willing to make major compromises in the Western Pacific, including on the issue of Taiwan and the South China Sea,” if China shows greater deference to the U.S.in the Americas.