18th January 2026
At the start of a New Year, new season and new Greg Hughes Show format Seamus Gunn opened the discussion on the USA‘s recent activities in Venezuela and also referenced the incident in Minneapolis which resulted in the death of Renee Good on Wednesday of this week, who was shot by an ICE agent which has caused consternation in the state of Minnesota. He said that it was difficult to know what the US agenda was going forward as he reminded listeners of the UN Charter signed in 1945 in San Francisco where the members signed up to a Treaty to maintain world order, particularly referencing the use of force on another State in the context of the abduction of Nicolas Maduro by US special agents last weekend and in particular how this has not been called out by many of the leading European powers who have not been unequivocal in its condemnation. He pointed out that it was accepted by the UN that force could be used in circumstances such as self-defence or when authorised by the security council, neither of which applied in this instance.
He thought that the threat of using force to acquire Greenland could also amount to a breach of the UN Charter. Gunn’s apprehension was the erosion of International Law and the double standards that were now being applied. He wondered what interest the US President had in Greenland as he already has extensive military facilities under a Treaty from the early 1950s. The perceived threat from China and Russia seemed somewhat extreme. The attraction of precious minerals may not be that practical in light of the cost of extraction.
Greg Hughes made the pertinent point that despite the Venezuelan incident, the stock markets had remained very stable. Our contributor Seamus Gunn thought that this went further than stock markets in that for many decades Europe had placed too much reliance on the US for defence and now could not afford to lose it. He opined as to whether Trump’s foreign policy was to deflect serious issues within the US itself.
No doubt there will be more to follow as the year progresses.
The first Q&A of the year can be listened to below: