I. Case Assessment

While reading the case material, you should keep in mind: 

1. What the current situation in Venezuela is and what contributed to its emergence? What kind of threat to the country, its people and the overall region does this situation pose? 

2. What are the U.S. policy options in this case, and what are their advantages and disadvantages?

3. What U.S. interests are at stake in this case? As a policymaker, how would you prioritize these various interests, and why?

4. Who (were) (are) Hugo Chavez, a leftist leader who governed Venezuela from 1998 until his death in 2013, and his successor, Nicolas Maduro and what is the basis of their ideological compatibility?

5. What is the significance of oil to Venezuela and to this political situation specifically?

6. What are the economic, security, political and other challenges that Venezuela faces internally and how do these difficulties affect its crisis and any international response to it?

II. Main Concepts in the Case

• Economic collapse
• Political  uncertainty
• Humanitarian catastrophe
• A weak or failed state
• Possible civil war