Venezuelan invasion

Time -   The abduction of Venezuelan President Nic­olas Maduro by U.S. forces early Saturday was an unprecedented act of dearing-do worthy of a Hollywood spy caper. But experts worry this audacious undertaking risks fraying the last remaining threads of international norms, emboldening autocracies into new acts of aggression without fear of consequences.

Anxiety is especially high that China could now act in similar fashion against regional leaders whom it deems problematic—not least in Taiwan, the self-ruling island that Beijing claims as a renegade province and has repeatedly threatened to invade. Last week, China held enormous war games entirely encircling the island of 23 million in apparent response to a record $11.1 billion American arms package to Taipei.