Advocate and governance and policy expert Joshua Nyamori has argued that global legal frameworks largely serve the interests of powerful nations, saying international law has historically been crafted to entrench Western dominance rather than protect weaker states.
Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation, Nyamori said current global debates should be understood within a broader historical context shaped by power, interests and inequality.
Nyamori described contemporary international disputes as issues that “will be a historical matter,” noting that while they are currently debated “according to passion and according to interests,” their true meaning will only be fully assessed by historians over time.
However, he said the present reality is deeply troubling. “What happens disturbs in many ways because it demonstrates the truth that people have refused to accept,” he said.
According to Nyamori, laws and rules are often used as tools of domination. “Laws and rules are basically instruments that oppressors use to oppress the weak, the strong use against the weak,” he argued, adding that this dynamic applies both locally and internationally.
He said major global legal instruments, including those underpinning the United Nations system, were shaped through conquest and power. “Every time the West have conquered, they have then crafted laws to strengthen their control of the world,” he said.
Nyamori singled out the United States as a central example of this global hegemony, arguing that former US President Donald Trump openly embodies attitudes that other leaders mask with diplomacy.
“For me, Trump is the typical American. The others could cover it in terms of courtesy,” he said. “But Trump represents what they think about the world, that they’re the best thing that ever happened, and they can rule the world, and it does not matter what you think.”
He pointed to long-standing academic critiques of international law, including work by Kenyan scholars. “We have great lawyers in Kenya who have written extensively about such issues, for instance Professor Makau Mutua,”
Nyamori said, referencing writings on the Third World Approach to International Law. However, he lamented that such critiques remain theoretical. “They remain academic discourses… because forums that can make decisions across the world are financed by Americans, so you dare not make a decision against them,” he said.
Nyamori cited US rhetoric on Venezuela as an example of this imbalance, questioning American involvement in the country’s affairs.
He criticized Trump’s statements about “saving Venezuela” while advocating for American oil companies to operate there. “Who is he to make decisions for the people and tell them that he’s going to run the country?” Nyamori asked.
While acknowledging that the situation is frustrating, Nyamori concluded that it reflects the reality of the global order. “It’s annoying, but yes, it is a reality that we live in,” he said.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that the United States had “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro,” adding that Maduro and his wife had been captured and flown out of the country. He said the operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.
Following their capture, Maduro and Flores were charged in the Southern District of New York with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X early Saturday.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said.
“I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers," she added.
