IR, imperialism, and the Global South: From Libya to Venezuela.

This article critically examines dominant international relations (IR) frameworks—authoritarianism, rentier state theory, and rogue state characterizations—used to analyze the socio-political formations of the Libyan Arab al-Jamāhīrīyah and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It argues that these frameworks reduce complex historical and political realities to caricatures centered on individual leaders and internal dysfunction, while neglecting the integral role of US-led imperialism and global capitalist structures in shaping these crises. The article highlights how such Eurocentric and racialized narratives obscure the revolutionary projects and alternative development models pursued by these states within the Global South, thereby reinforcing imperial world order and marginalizing decolonial perspectives in IR scholarship. It calls for a research agenda that critically interrogates imperial genealogies and recenters Global South experiences to advance more nuanced and politically aware understandings of international relations.