June 18, 2026

What’s Old Is New: Venezuela, Access, and the Structure of Hemispheric Competition

Venezuela has figured in U.S. strategic thinking for more than a century because it repeatedly sits at the intersection of access, energy, and regional competition. It has done so across administrations, ideologies, and international systems. The pattern spans European imperial rivalry, U.S. regional consolidation, Cold War competition, and today’s great-power contest. Historian Sean A. Mirski traces this continuity in his book We May Dominate the World, showing how Venezuela repeatedly emerged as a site of U.S. concern regardless of the global order.