Senior research scholars and fellows Luisa Palacios, Richard Nephew, and Daniel Sternoff from the Center on Global Energy Policy shared their thoughts on the energy-related implications of this development.

The country could see a relatively rapid recovery of some oil production, depending on the leadership that emerges, writes Luisa Palacios,

The U.S.-led operation that occurred today in central Caracas and in some key Venezuelan security facilities is nothing short of historical, writes Diego Rivera Rivota, a Senior Research Associate at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

“If we really go in and do some things that are kind of extraordinary: seizures, nationalisations, letting US companies go in and use it as a coercive tool to extract massive rents from the new government — that . . . really would be a game-changer for how the rest of the world views the United States — and US oil companies,” said Jason Bordoff, founding director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

Trump’s no-guardrails foreign policy raises big questions about the global order, not just about who will run Venezuela, writes Saltzman Institute Director Elizabeth Saunders.

Columbia University’s Elizabeth Saunders says Trump’s moves in Venezuela are the latest illustration that he is far less constrained by his advisers and Congress than during his first term.

"If he wants to provide free bus service and free child care, these kinds of things cost money," said Robert Shapiro, a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University

Columbia University professor Robert Y. Shapiro told Newsweek that “getting as far as he has with the settlement in GAZA and the release of the hostages, which looked very good for a time and could now take another bad turn” was a win for Trump’s administration.

"Character is built on the small decisions we make," writes Maria Ressa. "2026 will demand great — even greater — character. Or we lose it all."

"The division of Korea will not last forever," writes Jonathan Corrado. "The more North Koreans who know the truth about the Hungnam evacuation, the better."