Azerbaijan.US
Recent developments in Venezuela and Iran point to a broader shift in global politics toward the use of force and hard power, according to political analyst Chingiz Mammadov.
Speaking on the Caucasus News channel, Mammadov said the detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro should not be viewed as a definitive resolution of the country’s crisis. He argued that removing a single political figure does not automatically dismantle an entrenched system of power.
According to the analyst, Venezuela’s core problem lies not only in political leadership but in long-term structural decay.
Despite holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves, the country produces only a fraction of global output due to years of mismanagement, sanctions, and lack of investment. Mammadov noted that restoring Venezuela’s oil sector would require massive funding and at least a decade of sustained effort.
Turning to Iran, the expert highlighted growing socio-economic pressure inside the country. High inflation, currency depreciation, and declining purchasing power have hit small and medium-sized businesses particularly hard, fueling public dissatisfaction. At the same time, he stressed that protest activity in Iran remains uneven and does not yet amount to a unified national movement.
Mammadov emphasized that external pressure alone is unlikely to deliver lasting political change in either country. While such actions may generate short-term political or media impact, they often deepen internal divisions and increase anti-Western sentiment over time.
He also placed recent events within the context of intensifying global competition, particularly between the United States and China. In his view, Washington’s actions in strategically important regions are increasingly shaped by efforts to limit Beijing’s global reach, even at the cost of long-term instability.
“These developments show that the international system is moving away from compromise and toward demonstrative strength,” Mammadov said, adding that the consequences of this shift may be felt well beyond Venezuela and Iran.
