The Dominos Begin to Fall

The Domino Theory was a strategic concept popular in the 1950s and 1960s, which asserted that once one country succumbed to Communism, its neighbors would soon follow.

Because it was widely cited to justify the unpopular U.S. wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, it fell out of favor by the 1970s. That didn’t mean it wasn’t true.

Today, I believe we will soon witness an updated version of the Domino Theory. President Trump is calling it the “Donroe Doctrine,” but I think it goes way beyond the Western Hemisphere.

The takedown of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, and the apparent subservience of his successor, will have far-reaching consequences in Russia, Iran, and Communist China, but also in Europe.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted back-to-back operations to intercept and board two “ghost fleet” oil tankers, one in the North Atlantic and the other in international waters near the Caribbean.

Both vessels “were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a tweet.

The Bella 1, a supertanker headed for Venezuela from Iran to collect Venezuelan oil, was first intercepted by the US Coast Guard off the Venezuelan coast on December 17, but went dark and escaped into the North Atlantic.

While fleeing US pursuers, the crew painted over the vessel’s name with that of a ship registered to the Russian Federation, the Marinera, but was intercepted and boarded on January 7, in heavy seas off the coast of Ireland. 

It was a scene right out of the Nicholas Cage movie, Lord of War, with Coast Guardsmen rappelling down from hovering MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters.

The US ignored Putin’s claim of sovereignty over the vessel, and has vowed to pursue the 300-vessel ghost fleet used by Russian, Iran, China and Venezuela to evade US sanctions wherever it sails.

Not only is this an America First national security policy; it also makes for great television.

The Chinese had been big allies of Maduro for years, but the regime’s slovenly approach toward business convinced Chinese state-run businesses to seek opportunities elsewhere in the Western hemisphere, primarily Brazil.

China’s malign influence in our hemisphere could be the next domino to fall. But the President has said, graciously, that we won’t stop them from purchasing Venezuelan oil. In the future, however, the Chinese won’t be getting the $20-per-barril discount Maduro had been giving them. They will pay full freight, and the proceeds will be shared by Venezuela and the US Treasury.

The biggest losers in Venezuela, beyond the narco-traffickers, are Iran and its ally, Hezbollah. And that’s where the dominos are going to fall hard and heavy.

For decades, the Iranians have been building missile factories in Venezuela, under the guise of tractor production. In 2022, they signed a 20-year cooperation agreement with Maduro that included additional arms sales, defense plants, and oil field technology.

The deal gave Iran a logistics hub in the Western hemisphere to evade US sanctions and their ally Hezbollah a base from which to infiltrate terrorists across our southern border. By 2023, you could see the Iranian presence in Venezuelan military parades.

The Venezuelan navy also began to operate Iranian go-fast missile boats (top speed: 54 knots), armed with supersonic sea-skimming cruise missiles. All that will soon be gone.

I would not like to be an Iranian leader today. They see that when President Trump says he will do something, he does. And he has told them if they start to massacre protesters, the US is “locked and loaded” and ready to take them out.

I happen to believe that the United States has many ways of influencing events inside Iran without going into the country guns a’blazing.

For starters, the Iranian regime is intensely paranoid. After the 12 day war in June that took out their nuclear plants, they believe 1) that Israeli spies are everywhere, and 2) the United States military is a force to be feared.

When Ayatollah Khamenei sees Maduro taken away in handcuffs, he can feel those handcuffs slipping over his wrists in his dreams.

How do you keep from engaging in forever wars? By demonstrating the awesome power of the US military, and instilling fear in potential adversaries.

There are no US troops on the ground in Venezuela, nor any immediate plans to send them there. This president has demonstrated the big stick; now he can speak softly and be obeyed.

It’s entirely possible that he could take down the mullahs in Iran with words alone. Mark my words.

I discuss these topics on this week’s Prophecy Today Weekend, and will have much more to say about the ongoing Iranian revolution in the weeks to come.

As always, you can listen live in the Jacksonville, Florida area at 1 PM on Saturday on 104.9 FM or 550 AM or by using the Jacksonville Way Radio app. You can listen to the podcast later here.

Yours in freedom,

Ken

PS: I discuss Iran at greater length in a new edition of The Right Take with Mark Tapson, which is scheduled for release on Tuesday.

©2026 Kenneth R. Timmerman. All rights reserved.

Website: kentimmerman.com

Ken Timmerman’s 14th book of non-fiction, THE IRAN HOUSE: Tales of Revolution, Persecution, War, and Intrigue, can be ordered by clicking here or by viewing my author’s page, here. 

Raising Olives in Provence, can be ordered by clicking here.