Frank Fukuyama on Venezuela: "This is a nation-building exercise"
January 13, 2026
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Frank Fukuyama argues that removing Nicolás Maduro was the easy part, and warns that without legitimacy, stability, and long-term planning, US action in Venezuela risks repeating the failures of past nation-building efforts.
In this clip from the latest episode of GZERO World, political scientist Frank Fukuyama pushes back on the idea that the US operation in Venezuela can be considered a success simply because Nicolás Maduro is gone. While the raid was a “spectacular military operation,” Fukuyama argues it failed to address the deeper problem: Maduro was never the system itself, but “just a front man for a broader… criminal conspiracy.”
That infrastructure, he warns, is still intact, along with drug trafficking networks, human rights abuses, and foreign backing from countries like Iran and China. Fukuyama also points to the refugee crisis as a key test of success. “Eight million Venezuelans have left the country,” he notes, many of them now in the US. Without creating conditions that feel safe and legitimate, he says, those refugees will not return, no matter who is in charge.
Looking ahead, Fukuyama cautions that Washington has little choice but to prioritize stability over speed. “Let’s not kid ourselves,” he says. “This is a nation-building exercise… and you’re trying to do it by remote control from Washington.” Drawing lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, he emphasizes that legitimacy, not just force, is what ultimately determines whether a state can hold together. And that, he says, is work that will take years, not weeks.
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