“Pick a side.”

Mike Pompeo’s instruction to countries at the UN Security Council meeting on Saturday, in respect of the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, was loud and clear.

It was also an echo of a previous era, when the world’s nations, split along ideological lines, regularly lined up behind competing interests to fight proxy wars or struggle for power in far-flung places.

The present emergency has been a while in the making, following as it does Nicholas Maduro’s re-election as president last May – in a vote regarded by many observers and analysts as a sham, with leading opposition parties barred from participating.

In recent months, the socioeconomic problems that have plagued Venezuela for years have worsened, as hyper-inflation erodes living standards and fuels political discontent.

Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Show all 18 1 /18 Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Protesters clash with the Bolivarian National Police during a demonstration against the government of the Venezuela and president Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on 23 January 2019 EPA Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Demonstrators cheer as Venezuela's National Assembly head Juan Guaido declares himself the country's "acting president" at a rally in Caracas AFP/Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Opposition supporters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Opposition supporters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Juan Guaido, head of Venezuela's opposition-run congress, declares himself interim president of the nation until elections can be held during a rally in Caracas demanding leader Nicolas Maduro's resignation AP Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Opposition supporters carry letters to form the word "Democracy" while taking part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Police watch over marching anti-government protesters in Caracas EPA Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government A vehicle is overturned as opposition demonstrators block a road during a protest against the Venezuelan government AFP/Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government A National Police officer fires rubber bullets during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government A demonstrator throws back a gas canister while clashing with security forces during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Security forces look on after clashing with opposition supporters participating in a rally against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's government REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Demonstrators during a protest against the government of Nicolas Maduro at Plaza Altamira in Caracas Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Demonstrators during a protest against the government of Nicolas Maduro at Plaza Altamira in Caracas Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government epa07313731 Opponents of Chavism demonstrate against the Government of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, 23 January 2019. Chavists and opponents are again demonstrating in the streets of the country to support or question the legitimacy of the head of state, which the Parliament and a large part of the international community do not recognize. EPA/CRISTIAN HERNANDEZ CRISTIAN HERNANDEZ EPA Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Riot police clash with opposition demonstrators during a protest against the government of President Nicolas Maduro on the anniversary of the 1958 uprising that overthrew the military dictatorship, in Caracas on January 23, 2019. - Venezuela's National Assembly head Juan Guaido declared himself the country's "acting president" on Wednesday during a mass opposition rally against leader Nicolas Maduro. (Photo by YURI CORTEZ / AFP)YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images YURI CORTEZ AFP/Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government The remains of a statue of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez is seen hanging from a pedestrian bridge after it was destroyed in San Felix, Venezuela REUTERS Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Riot police on motorcycles clash with opposition demonstrators during protests in Caracas AFP/Getty Images Venezuela protests: thousands rally against government Supporters celebrate Juan Guaido declaration that he is Venezuelan president EPA

Now, with Juan Guaido, the opposition leader, having denounced Maduro’s continuing grip on power and declared himself acting president, the country’s predicament has come to a head. And with the US secretary of state calling on the international community to back a horse, many of its members have done just that.

So it is that the United States has made clear its support for Guaido, the head of the Venezuelan National Assembly, who appears to have been conducting quiet diplomacy for weeks, and who would offer a welcome pro-US, pro-free market voice in the region. Falling in line behind the US – and joining its demands for fresh elections – are Britain, Australia, Israel and the right-leaning governments of South America, including Brazil and Argentina.

On the other side, backing Maduro, are Russia – which has longstanding links with the country since the days of Hugo Chavez – China, Turkey and states in the region where left-wing governments are in power, such as Bolivia and Cuba (and Mexico to a slightly more ambivalent degree). They accuse the US of meddling in the country’s internal affairs and worsening the lot of ordinary Venezuelans by the sanctions it first imposed in 2015.

With the odd exception in terms of lineups, this is straight out of the Cold War playbook, with Russia and China lending support to an embattled socialist leader fighting off an internal opponent backed by the imperialist west. It’s almost as if the last 30 years hadn’t happened.

True, Russia and China are no longer wedded to socialist principles – and they are no longer the natural allies they once were (for a whole host of reasons).

What’s more, both the overarching oddness of Donald Trump’s presidency, and the ongoing suspicion about links between his campaign and the Russian state, have complicated our understanding of Washington’s relationship with Moscow.

Nevertheless, the resurgence of political nationalism in the last decade, now allied to the kind of economic protectionism promoted by Trump, has largely neutered the world’s appetite for globalisation and all that goes with it – not least, the primacy of global institutions and the preference for multilateral solutions to the world’s problems.

With strongmen to the fore and national pride to play for in every situation, the stark re-emergence of international blocs – often along lines dictated by middle-aged leaders who recall the Cold War era with a degree of fondness – almost feels inevitable.

We have seen that most strikingly in the context of Syria’s bleak war, but the old east-west divide has also been very apparent in the rumbling conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Venezuela is simply another example – the only hope being that the fight for supremacy between Guaido and Maduro (who this weekend was showing off his Russian military hardware) does not spill over into an armed confrontation between the competing factions, which is not beyond the realms of possibility.

International economic interests are now so complex that it may seem impossible to imagine a return to the kind of strictly delineated, us vs them, world of the 1950s-1980s. The split between the US and its European allies over the Iran nuclear deal is indicative of a less tribal approach to strategic affairs. Indeed, Trump’s unpredictability and sheer weirdness make America a less straightforward ally for other western nations than once it was.

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If the last decade has shown us anything it is that we can take nothing for granted.

Not long ago, wise heads said the age of boom and bust was over; they were wrong. Many others thought globalisation would negate nationalistic instincts; if anything, it has encouraged them. The reckless and infamous contention that we had reached the “end of history” when the Berlin Wall fell has proved wide of the mark.