Dhaka, Jan. 9 -- The most important question stemming from America's intervention in Venezuela is not whether it violated international law and norms, but what it reveals about the future of the liberal international order. Contrary to what some commentators say, that order is not collapsing, since its core pillars remain in place and the alternatives to them are still weak. But sustaining it will now involve more frequent discretionary US actions, and it will become increasingly unclear where the thresholds for future interventions lie.

When the perceived limits on state action recede, the meaning of power shifts. The question is no longer what is formally permitted, but how actions will be interpreted by others within the system. Venez...