How do you keep peace with powerful and potentially violent neighbors like Iran, Russia and China? Leverage. You arrange the situation to get control of something they need. You create obstacles to their ability to cause you harm. That is how you win the peace - by fighting a war behind the scenes to do those two things. Venezuela is a case in point. It is a proxy for China and Iran (and to a lesser extent Russia). China needs oil and is unable to extend it's power to defend