Why Did the United States Capture Nicolás Maduro?

In the early morning hours of 3 January, the special forces of the US Army captured President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, who is now transferred to the United States to face justice in his criminal case. But why did the Trump administration choose to take such a drastic measure?

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius delivers a speech in front of the first German maritime reconnaissance P8-A Poseidon patrol aircraft after it landed, on November 7, 2025 at the military part of Schoenefeld airport near Berlin. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

Is Europe Ready for a German War Machine?

‘The core paradox of the European Union has always been an aspiration to function as an imperial power without possessing imperial sovereignty. It claims authority over trade, regulations, and cultural norms across the continent, yet it relies on the American nuclear umbrella for external protection and lacks the independent military force needed to impose its will.’

Secrets Behind the Walls: Surveillance of the Turkish Embassy in Budapest

‘From 1974 to the late 1980s, Hungary’s state security closely monitored the Turkish embassy at 45 Úri Street in the Buda Castle, keeping tabs on diplomats, their residences, and even personal correspondence. Newly examined documents reveal how counterintelligence observed NATO diplomats, highlighting both the meticulous methods of the secret services and the routine nature of embassy life.’

Russia Claims Ukraine Attacked Putin’s Residence — Can Peace Talks Survive?

Russia’s claim that Ukraine attempted a drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence has cast a shadow over fragile peace talks just as negotiations appeared to be nearing a breakthrough. While Kyiv denies the allegation and Washington urges caution, the incident risks hardening positions in Moscow and derailing momentum towards a settlement.

Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City (1953). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

The Failure of the ‘Rules-Based’ Liberal International Order

‘The leaders of the most successful small or medium-sized countries tend to be acutely aware of the dexterity required to maintain security…it seems very unlikely that they and others like them will get lost in their own imagination or succumb to the self-fulfilling fatalism of the postmodernist cosmopolitan mind that gave birth to the “end of history”, the “rules-based liberal international order”, and all the rest of that dangerous nonsense.’

Washington’s National Security Strategy and the German Flight from Reality

Why does Germany react with moral panic to Washington’s 2025 National Security Strategy, a document clarifying national interests while exposing Europe’s civilizational erosion, strategic weakness, and German political culture that treats realism as illegitimate, borders as taboo, and national interests as extremism, revealing Germany’s inability to act as a nation?