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Firstly, Mandarin is not dominating Nepali at an alarming rateThe reason for this could be too much of Chinese citizens in Nepal and increase in Chinese industries in Nepal.This cannot be stopped but can be gradually reduced to a great extent if Nepal does changes in it's FDI i.e. Foreign Direct Investment and stops Chinese citizens and industries from entering into it's territory it has two benefits -It will save the Nepali Language from extinctionIt will save Nepal from drowning into Chinese loans and policy of String of PearlsWhat is String of Pearls ?The String of Pearls is a geopolitical theory on potential Chinese intentions in the Indian Ocean region (IOR).It refers to the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its sea lines of communication, which extend from the Chinese mainland to Port Sudan in the Horn of Africa. The sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb, the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic maritime centers in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Somalia.Many commentators in India believe this plan, together with the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor and other parts of China's Belt and Road Initiative under Xi Jinping, is a threat to India's national security.This as such a system would encircle Indiaand threaten its power projection, trade, and potentially territorial integrity.Furthermore, China's support for India's traditional enemy of Pakistan (see: Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts) and its Gwadar Port is viewed as a threat, compounded by fears that China may develop an overseas naval military base in Gwadar,which could allow China to conduct expeditionary warfare in the IOR.From the east, the deep-water port of Kyaukpyu is also viewed with similar concern.The first comprehensive academic analyses of Chinese plan and its security implications for New Delhi is known to be undertaken in February 2008 by an active-duty Indian naval officer.Antedating China's anti-piracy naval deployment in the Indian Ocean beginning in December 2008, and the ensuing acquisition of its first overseas military in Djibouti in August 2017, his analysis predicting China's "permanent military presence" in Indian Ocean is viewed by Indian policymakers as prescient. Accordingly, India has since been making moves of various types to counter the perceived threat.Map of China's String of Pearls, dated to 2012. Some of the labels are incorrect; No. 13 on the map is actually No. 15 in the text; No. 14 on the map is No. 13 in the text; No. 15 on the map is No. 14 in the text. (in Spanish)The term as a geopolitical concept was first used in an internal US Department of Defense report, "Energy Futures in Asia" in 2005 .The term is also widely used in India's geopolitical and foreign policy narratives to highlight India's concerns over massive Chinese Belt and Road Initiative projects across southern Asia.According to the EUISS, the formation of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (consisting of United States, India, Australia and Japan) is a direct result of China's assertive foreign and security policy in the Indo-Pacific region.The emergence of the String of Pearls is indicative of China's growing geopolitical influence through concerted efforts to increase access to ports and airfields, expand and modernise military forces, and foster stronger diplomatic relationships with trading partners.The Chinese government insists that China's burgeoning naval strategy is entirely peaceful in nature and is only for the protection of regional trade interests.Chinese Premiers Hu Jintaoand Xi Jinpinghave both asserted that China will never seek hegemony in foreign relations. A 2013 analysis by The Economist also found the Chinese moves to be commercial in nature.Although it has been claimed that China's actions are creating a security dilemma between China and India in the Indian Ocean, that has been questioned by some analysts, who point to China's fundamental strategic vulnerabilities.TerminologyIn the theory, a "pearl" refers to a current or potential Chinese overseas military base, megainfrastructure project, economic corridor, port or other city or locale of Chinese geostrategic advantage in the region. The eponymous "string" of these pearls refers to the possibility of the Chinese Navy connecting these pearls via maritime routes.OriginsIn 2004, the U.S. consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton came up with the "string of pearls" hypothesis, which posits that China will try to expand its naval presence by building civilian maritime infrastructure along the Indian Ocean periphery.[citation needed]David H. Shinn predicted the same in 2008, predicting that China will need to expand their naval capacities in order to protect supply lines of vital resources from Africa and the Middle East to China.China's rapid economic development over the course of the last quarter century has been heavily dependent on foreign sources of energy, and it is likely that foreign sources of energy will prove even more critical to the continued growth of the Chinese economy. The sea lines of communication that link the Chinese mainland with ports throughout the Middle East and coasts of Africa have become a major source of conflict with respect to China's energy security.China is the world's largest oil consumer and the largest oil importer. Oil imported from the Gulf States and Africa comprises 70% of total Chinese oil imports, and remains China's most critical source of energy apart from domestic coal burning and nuclear power. To meet future demand, China has signed a number of long term contracts to develop Iranian oil fields and to build a pipeline, refinery, and port in Sudan for oil export.The oversea transport of oil from existing production areas will continue to remain the primary mode of energy importation for the foreseeable future. Efforts to secure new supply lines in Central Asia have proven difficult, with poor infrastructure, political instability, logistical challenges, and corruption hampering energy development there.Energy security also sits at the core of China's anti-piracy efforts, which figure into its larger maritime objectives. The expansion of Chinese naval patrols off the Coast of Somalia, and China's decision to join multi-nation defence patrols in 2010, indicate China's greater assertiveness in the policing of shipping corridors.Facilities and relationshipsSouth China SeaThe critical sea lines of communication that connect China to Middle Eastern oil-producing states traverse the South China Sea, making it a key strategic region, and potential trouble spot, for the Chinese government. Chinese naval vessels heavily patrol South China Sea waters, and conflicting territorial claims in the region have periodically erupted in naval confrontations.Chinese efforts to control the South China Sea have therefore figured significantly in speculations about the wider ambitions of the Chinese central government in the construction of a power projection chain across Asia.The Paracel IslandsThe central government's efforts to exercise greater control in the region began in earnest after the power vacuum created by the withdrawal of US forces from the Philippines in 1991.Although skirmishes with neighbouring powers, most notably with Vietnam during the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979, have been a fixture of post-war Chinese foreign relations, the Chinese government began aggressively asserting its territorial claims in the region only within the last two decades. Interest in the region has historically extended to the rich fishing and mineral resources known to exist there.However, islets in the regions can also be used as air and sea bases for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities, as well as base points for Chinese ballistic missile submarines and potential aircraft carrier battle groups.The Chinese naval base on Hainan Island is generally considered the first of the pearls or potential pearls.Recent construction of an underwater submarine base on Hainan, in addition to the sprawling facilities already located there, seems to further confirm the perceived importance of Hainan as a base of control for China's claims in the South China Sea.Woody Island, the largest of the Paracel Islands, hosts an upgraded Chinese airstrip and has also been identified as a pearl.Sansha, the prefecture-level city established on Woody Island, maintains a division-level garrison that also oversees Chinese claims in the Spratly Islands, extending a small but permanent military presence across Chinese claims in the South China Sea.A $20 billion Chinese proposal aimed at Thailand to fund the construction of a canal across the Kra Isthmus, which would allow ships to bypass the Strait of Malacca altogether, has also broached concerns of a Chinese-controlled corridor linking Chinese ports and facilities elsewhere in the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean.Indian OceanChinese possessions in the Indian Ocean consist primarily of commercial ports owned and operated by Chinese firms, as well as resupply stations operating in agreement with the Chinese central government. The two largest projects consist of a Chinese-financed commercial shipping center in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, and a Chinese-controlled deep-water port near the mouth of the Persian Gulf in Gwadar, Pakistan, which is also the crux of China's massive $62 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor project. Both sites have raised the concern of neighbouring powers, most significantly India, which fears the possibility of a string of Chinese bases situated just off its coast.Chinese investment in Hambantota, and Sri Lanka's dialogue partner status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), is seen by some Indian analysts as reflective of a wider encirclement strategy on the part of the Chinese.The port at Gwadar, which is connected to the Karakoram Highway linking Western China and the Arabian Sea, is of even greater concern to the Indian government, which views it as powerful evidence of Chinese and Pakistani collusion against Indian security and economic interests.PakistanGwadar PortFor both Pakistan and China, the Gwadar port as part of the much-wide China Pakistan Economic Corridor offers a number of key benefits. For the Pakistani government, the Gwadar port is seen as having the potential of hedging against a potential Indian blockade of the port of Karachi, which currently handles 90% of Pakistani seaborne trade. For the Chinese central government, which has funded the majority of the $1.2 billion construction, Gwadar represents an important strategic foothold situated only 240 miles from the Strait of Hormuz.Chinese government officials have specifically identified the growing militarisation of Central Asia, as a chief motivation in the construction of the Gwadar project.In 2013, the state-owned China Overseas Port Holding Company was officially granted control of the port's operation, further consolidating Chinese influence over the Gwadar project.Other countriesSimilar port construction projects are also underway in Burma and Bangladesh. The Chinese government has financed a container shipping facility in Chittagong, Bangladesh, which is widely identified as a pearl in the string.However, despite reports of Chittagong's potential military role for the Chinese, the Bangladeshi government has insisted that the port is of an entirely commercial nature and declared it off limits to military vessels. Furthermore, given Bangladesh's close economic ties to India, and agreements for the expansion of Indian investment in Bangladeshi infrastructure projects, Chittagong's military significance for the Chinese is exaggerated.Strategists have also identified the Marao Atoll, in the Maldives, as a potential Chinese military base of operations. Reports in the Indian press have referred to Chinese plans to construct a submarine base in Marao since at least 1999. However, to date there exists no evidence that suggests a Chinese military presence of any kind in the Maldives. Indeed, it is argued that Marao cannot possibly support the type of complex infrastructure required for submarine operations. And given the nature of diplomatic and military co-operation between India and the Maldives, Chinese encroachment in the Maldives Archipelago is highly unlikely. Many analysts have suggested that Chinese Indian Ocean bases are purely commercial because they would be nearly indefensible in wartime.A large component of China's efforts to establish ports and bases in the Indian Ocean is the result of a need to formalise logistics support agreements for Chinese naval forces conducting anti-piracy efforts off the Horn of AfricaIn this regard, Chinese naval strategy is consistent with the interests of India and its Western allies.Chinese state-owned companies are also responsible for the construction of a railway link between Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and Port Sudan, the country's major port on the Red Sea. Although Sudanese oil makes up only a fraction of total Chinese imports, China has invested over $10 billion in infrastructure projects in the country to take advantage of its substantial oil reserves. Chinese operations in Port Sudan are substantial, but limited completely to the oil exportChina has also agreed to finance and build a $10 billion port in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, which is expected to be completed in 2017 and handle 20 million shipping containers annually.The Chinese government has denied that their investment in the port of Bagamoyo is intended to create a military capability.ResponsesChinaChina views its own actions in an entirely different light; namely, as their efforts to strengthen a new maritime Silk Road.China's growing economic investments have increased their concerns about the political stability of the countries they are investing in.International relations commentators have compared this to the United States investing in internal stability and security of countries where the US has large commercial interests.IndiaIn 2007, the Indian Navy published the "Indian Maritime Doctrine", a document outlining prospective Indian naval strategies. It describes ambitions for an active Indian naval presence from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca. Furthermore, the doctrine makes explicit mention of the need to police international shipping lanes and control choke points of Indian Ocean trade in particular.In 2007, India opened its second overseas military listening post in northern Madagascar, with the aim of better overseeing shipping movements through the Mozambique Channel. The Indian government has, with the same intentions, hosted negotiations with Mauritania regarding the construction of an airstrip for Indian surveillance aircraft, as well as organised the construction of radar stations in the Maldives.In 2011, the Indian government further announced that it would fund a deep-water port in Sittwe, Burma; set to be functional by June 2013, with an additional highway connecting the port to India to be completed by 2014. The construction of the Sittwe port is often cited as evidence of a concerted strategy on the part of India to counterbalance growing Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.Like China, India is heavily dependent on foreign oil producers for its energy needs. About 89% of India's oil arrives by ship, and the burning of oil provides for approximately 33% of India's energy needs. The protection of the major sea lines of communication is therefore recognised as an economic imperative.In this regard, India has historically focused heavily on anti-piracy and counter-terrorism efforts across the Indian Ocean. Most notable among these is Operation Island Watch, the 2010 effort to patrol India's western seaboard against Somali pirates.Indian Ocean PiracyA number of these counter-terrorism and anti-piracy efforts have been conducted in co-ordination with American forces, though Indian officials have traditionally restricted joint military exercises to common interest initiatives, often those under UN sanction.Nevertheless, renewed US interest in countering the threat of Islamic terrorism in South Asia has pushed India and the United States towards more substantive military co-operation. For US military officials and strategists, this growing bilateral relationship is widely seen as an opportunity to counterbalance threats of Chinese regional hegemony. Efforts for bilateral co-operation against rising Chinese power are bolstered by popular fears that China's expanded presence in the Indian Ocean threatens India's economic and military security.Dean Cheng, a notable China expert at the Heritage Foundation, has strongly urged that the United States continue to partner with India to counter China's influence in the Indian Ocean.United StatesThe US Navy has unparalleled power projection capabilities and operational strength, and is the major naval force in the waters of South and Southeast Asia.However, the Chinese central government's explicit ambitions for the creation of a "new security concept", one that can challenge US dominance in the region, has precipitated a greater willingness on the part of the Chinese to challenge US influence in Asia. China's renewed assertiveness in the South China Sea is of particular concern to US officials, who see China's rise as a threat to the United States' role as a "provider of regional and global stability".The "Pivot to Asia" strategy of the Obama Administration is designed to engage China by consolidating and expanding diplomatic and economic relationships with existing regional partners, particularly in East Asia and Southeast Asia. This approach has emphasised multilateralism, as exemplified by increased US engagement with ASEAN and efforts for the formation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pan-Asian free trade deal.However, the US has also sought an expanded and more cooperative military presence in the region, evidenced by the 2006 Cope India exercise and others like it.Strong US relations with its key regional allies, including Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, have been reinforced by strengthened co-operation with countries threatened by Chinese control, such as the Philippines.JapanTwo of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islets – Kitakojima/Beixiaodao (left) and Minamikojima/Nanxiaodao (right)Japanese apprehensions regarding the development of an interconnected system of Chinese military and commercial ports centers primarily on the protection of trading interests. 90% of Japan's imported oil flows to Japan through the sea lanes of the South China Sea, and any undue Chinese influence in the region is seen as a potential threat to Japanese economic security. Moreover, Japanese officials envision that, in the case of a more pervasive Chinese power projection capability in East Asia, territorial disputes between China and Japan in the East China Sea and Philippine Sea might escalate to a point of outright military confrontation.In particular, the Senkaku, which is claimed by China but controlled by Japan, and Ryukyu island chains, are identified as key friction points between the two countries. Both island groups are located off of China's eastern seaboard and must be navigated by Chinese naval and commercial vessels sailing on their way to the wider Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, the proximity of both island groups to Taiwan offers them an attractive operational role for Chinese military planners looking to mitigate US naval superiority in any potential war over Taiwan.In 2010, in part because of increased diplomatic tension with China, Japan announced revised National Defence Program guidelines, which advocate enhanced surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the Ryukyu islands, as well as the increased support for submarine activities.At the US–Japan Security Consultative Committee on 21 June 2011, the Japanese and US governments issued a firm joint declaration announcing intentions for the maintenance of the strong US naval deterrent in the Taiwan Strait and the expansion of security ties with ASEAN, Australia, and India. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's has described this new China-wary foreign policy as having the potential to create an "arc of freedom" between Japan and its traditional allies the US and Australia, and India.This project is bolstered by the 2008 security co-operation agreement between Japan and India, which calls for greater maritime security co-ordination and diplomatic co-operation on regional issues.AustraliaThe Australian government has repeatedly expressed concern about mounting tensions in East Asia and Southeast Asia, with the security of Australia's so-called "Northern approaches" seen by lawmakers and officials as essential to the security of seaborne trade and energy supply routes.As a reaction to China's growing influence, and as part of the United States' proclaimed "Pivot to Asia" strategy, the Australian government approved the stationing of US troops and aircraft in the northern Australian city of Darwin in late 2011.Acknowledgments -String of Pearls (Indian Ocean) - Wikipedia

Maybe not in name but in actions.1700s-1800s - Indian Wars and Manifest DestinyFurther information: Empire of Liberty, Manifest Destiny, Modern empires, and Overthrow of the Kingdom of HawaiiCaricature showing Uncle Sam lecturing four children labeled Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Cuba, in front of children holding books labeled with various U.S. states. A black boy is washing windows, a Native American sits separate from the class, and a Chinese boy is outside the door. The caption reads: "School Begins. Uncle Sam (to his new class in Civilization): Now, children, you've got to learn these lessons whether you want to or not! But just take a look at the class ahead of you, and remember that, in a little while, you will feel as glad to be here as they are!"Thomas Jefferson, in the 1790s, awaited the fall of the Spanish Empire "until our population can be sufficiently advanced to gain it from them piece by piece".In turn, historian Sidney Lens notes that "the urge for expansion – at the expense of other peoples – goes back to the beginnings of the United States itself"Yale historian Paul Kennedy put it, "From the time the first settlers arrived in Virginia from England and started moving westward, this was an imperial nation, a conquering nation."Expanding on George Washington's description of the early United States as an "infant empire",Benjamin Franklin wrote: "Hence the Prince that acquires new Territory, if he finds it vacant, or removes the Natives to give his own People Room; the Legislator that makes effectual Laws for promoting of Trade, increasing Employment, improving Land by more or better Tillage; providing more Food by Fisheries; securing Property, etc. and the Man that invents new Trades, Arts or Manufactures, or new Improvements in Husbandry, may be properly called Fathers of their Nation, as they are the Cause of the Generation of Multitudes, by the Encouragement they afford to Marriage."Thomas Jefferson also asserted that the United States "must be viewed as the nest from which all America, North & South is to be peopled",From the left Noam Chomsky writesthat "the United States is the one country that exists, as far as I know, and ever has, that was founded as an empire explicitly".A national drive for territorial acquisition across the continent was popularized in the 19th century as the ideology of Manifest Destiny.It came to be realized with the Mexican–American War of 1846, which resulted in the cession of 525,000 square miles of Mexican territory to the United States, stretching up to the Pacific coast.The Whig Party strongly opposed this war and expansionism generally.President James Monroe presented his famous doctrine for the western hemisphere in 1823. Historians have observed that while the Monroe Doctrine contained a commitment to resist colonialism from Europe, it had some aggressive implications for American policy, since there were no limitations on the US's actions mentioned within it. Scholar Jay Sexton notes that the tactics used to implement the doctrine were "modeled after those employed by British imperialists" in their territorial competition with Spain and France.From the left historian William Appleman Williamsdescribed it as "imperial anti-colonialism."The Indian Wars against the indigenous population began in the British era. Their escalation under the federal republic allowed the US to dominate North America and carve out the 48 continental states. This can be considered to be an explicitly colonial process in light of arguments that Native American nations were sovereign entities prior to annexation.Their sovereignty was systematically undermined by US state policy (usually involving unequal or broken treaties) and white settler-colonialism.The climax of this process was the California genocide.1800s - Filibustering in Central AmericaIn the older historiography William Walker's filibustering represented the high tide of antebellum American imperialism. His brief seizure of Nicaragua in 1855 is typically called a representative expression of Manifest destinywith the added factor of trying to expand slavery into Central America. Walker failed in all his escapades and never had official U.S. backing. Historian Michel Gobat, however, presents a strongly revisionist interpretation. He argues that Walker was invited in by Nicaraguan liberals who were trying to force economic modernization and political liberalism. Walker's government comprised those liberals, as well as Yankee colonizers, and European radicals. Walker even included some local Catholics as well as indigenous peoples, Cuban revolutionaries, and local peasants. His coalition was much too complex and diverse to survive long, but it was not the attempted projection of American power, concludes Gobat.1800s-1900s - New Imperialism and "The White Man's Burden"EditFurther information: History of the Philippines (1898–1946), Philippine–American War, Big Stick ideology, and Roosevelt corollaryThis cartoon reflects the view of Judge magazine regarding America's imperial ambitions following a quick victory in the Spanish–American War of 1898.The American flag flies from the Philippines and Hawaii in the Pacific to Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.A variety of factors converged during the "New Imperialism" of the late 19th century, when the United States and the other great powersrapidly expanded their overseas territorial possessions. Some of these are used as examples of the various forms of New Imperialism.The prevalence of overt racism, notably John Fiske's conception of Anglo-Saxon racial superiority and Josiah Strong's call to "civilize and Christianize,"—were manifestations of a growing Social Darwinism and racism in some schools of American political thought.Early in his career, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in preparing the Navy for the Spanish–American War[34] and was an enthusiastic proponent of testing the U.S. military in battle, at one point stating "I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one."Roosevelt claimed that he rejected imperialism, but he embraced the near-identical doctrine of expansionism.When Rudyard Kipling wrote the imperialist poem "The White Man's Burden" for Roosevelt, the politician told colleagues that it was "rather poor poetry, but good sense from the expansion point of view."Roosevelt was so committed to dominating Spain's former colonies that he proclaimed his own corollary to the Monroe Doctrine as justification,although his ambitions extended even further, into the Far East. Scholars have documented the resemblance and collaboration between US and British military activities in the Pacific at this time.Industry and trade are two of the most prevalent motivations of imperialism. American intervention in both Latin America and Hawaiiresulted in multiple industrial investments, including the popular industry of Dole bananas. If the United States was able to annex a territory, in turn they were granted access to the trade and capital of those territories. In 1898, Senator Albert Beveridge proclaimed that an expansion of markets was absolutely necessary, "American factories are making more than the American people can use; American soil is producing more than they can consume. Fate has written our policy for us; the trade of the world must and shall be ours."One of the New York Journal's most infamous cartoons, depicting Philippine–American War General Jacob H. Smith's order "Kill Everyone over Ten," from the front page on May 5, 1902.American rule of ceded Spanish territory was not uncontested. The Philippine Revolution had begun in August 1896 against Spain, and after the defeat of Spain in the Battle of Manila Bay, began again in earnest, culminating in the Philippine Declaration of Independence and the establishment of the First Philippine Republic. The Philippine–American War ensued, with extensive damage and death, ultimately resulting in the defeat of the Philippine Republic.According to scholars such as Gavan McCormack and E. San Juan, the American counterinsurgency resulted in genocide.The maximum geographical extension of American direct political and military control happened in the aftermath of World War II, in the period after the surrender and occupations of Germany and Austria in May and later Japanand Korea in September 1945 and before the independence of the Philippines in July 1946.Stuart Creighton Miller says that the public's sense of innocence about Realpolitik impairs popular recognition of U.S. imperial conduct.The resistance to actively occupying foreign territory has led to policies of exerting influence via other means, including governing other countries via surrogates or puppet regimes, where domestically unpopular governments survive only through U.S. support.A map of "Greater America" c. 1900, including overseas territories.The Philippines is sometimes cited as an example. After Philippine independence, the US continued to direct the country through Central Intelligence Agency operatives like Edward Lansdale. As Raymond Bonner and other historians note, Lansdale controlled the career of President Ramon Magsaysay, going so far as to physically beat him when the Philippine leader attempted to reject a speech the CIA had written for him. American agents also drugged sitting President Elpidio Quirinoand prepared to assassinate Senator Claro Recto.Prominent Filipino historian Roland G. Simbulan has called the CIA "US imperialism's clandestine apparatus in the Philippines".The U.S. retained dozens of military bases, including a few major ones. In addition, Philippine independence was qualified by legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. For example, the Bell Trade Act provided a mechanism whereby U.S. import quotas might be established on Philippine articles which "are coming, or are likely to come, into substantial competition with like articles the product of the United States". It further required U.S. citizens and corporations be granted equal access to Philippine minerals, forests, and other natural resources.In hearings before the Senate Committee on Finance, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs William L. Claytondescribed the law as "clearly inconsistent with the basic foreign economic policy of this country" and "clearly inconsistent with our promise to grant the Philippines genuine independence."1918 - Wilsonian interventionAmerican troops marching in Vladivostok during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, August 1918When World War I broke out in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson promised American neutrality throughout the war. This promise was broken when the United States entered the war after the Zimmermann Telegram. This was "a war for empire" to control vast raw materials in Africa and other colonized areas, according to the contemporary historian and civil rights leader W. E. B. Du Bois.More recently historian Howard Zinn argues that Wilson entered the war in order to open international markets to surplus US production. He quotes Wilson's own declaration thatConcessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process... the doors of the nations which are closed must be battered down.In a memo to Secretary of State Bryan, the president described his aim as "an open doorto the world".Lloyd Gardner notes that Wilson's original avoidance of world war was not motivated by anti-imperialism; his fear was that "white civilization and its domination in the world" were threatened by "the great white nations" destroying each other in endless battle.Despite President Wilson's official doctrine of moral diplomacy seeking to "make the world safe for democracy," some of his activities at the time can be viewed as imperialism to stop the advance of democracy in countries such as Haiti.The United States invaded Haiti in July 1915 after having made landfall eight times previously. American rule in Haiti continued through 1942, but was initiated during World War I. The historian Mary Renda in her book, Taking Haiti, talks about the American invasion of Haiti to bring about political stability through U.S. control. The American government did not believe Haiti was ready for self-government or democracy, according to Renda. In order to bring about political stability in Haiti, the United States secured control and integrated the country into the international capitalist economy, while preventing Haiti from practicing self-governance or democracy. While Haiti had been running their own government for many years before American intervention, the U.S. government regarded Haiti as unfit for self-rule. In order to convince the American public of the justice in intervening, the United States government used paternalist propaganda, depicting the Haitian political process as uncivilized. The Haitian government would come to agree to U.S. terms, including American overseeing of the Haitian economy. This direct supervision of the Haitian economy would reinforce U.S. propaganda and further entrench the perception of Haitians' being incompetent of self-governance.In World War I, the US, Britain, and Russia had been allies for seven months, from April 1917 until the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in November. Active distrust surfaced immediately, as even before the October Revolution British officers had been involved in the Kornilov Affair, which sought to crush the Russian anti-war movement and the independent soviets.Nonetheless, once the Bolsheviks took Moscow, the British began talks to try and keep them in the war effort. British diplomat Bruce Lockhart cultivated a relationship with several Soviet officials, including Leon Trotsky, and the latter approved the initial Allied military mission to secure the Eastern Front, which was collapsing in the revolutionary upheaval. Ultimately, Soviet head of state V.I. Lenin decided the Bolsheviks would settle peacefully with the Central Powersat the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This separate peace led to Allied disdain for the Soviets, since it left the Western Allies to fight Germany without a strong Eastern partner. The British SIS, supported by US diplomat Dewitt C. Poole, sponsored an attempted coup in Moscow involving Bruce Lockhart and Sidney Reilly, which involved an attempted assassination of Lenin. The Bolsheviks proceeded to shut down the British and U.S. embassies.Tensions between Russia (including its allies) and the West turned intensely ideological. Horrified by mass executions of White forces, land expropriations, and widespread repression, the Allied military expedition now assisted the anti-Bolshevik Whites in the Russian Civil War, with the US covertly giving supportto the autocratic and antisemitic General Alexander Kolchak.Over 30,000 Western troops were deployed in Russia overall.This was the first event that made Russian–American relations a matter of major, long-term concern to the leaders in each country. Some historians, including William Appleman Williams and Ronald Powaski, trace the origins of the Cold War to this conflict.Wilson launched seven armed interventions, more than any other president.Looking back on the Wilson era, General Smedley Darlington Butler, a leader of the Haiti expedition and the highest-decorated Marine of that time, considered virtually all of the operations to have been economically motivated.In a 1933 speech he said:I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it...I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street ... Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.1941-1945 - World War IIThe Grand AreaIn an October 1940 report to Franklin Roosevelt, Bowman wrote that “the US government is interested in any solution anywhere in the world that affects American trade. In a wide sense, commerce is the mother of all wars.” In 1942 this economic globalism was articulated as the “Grand Area” concept in secret documents. The US would have to have control over the “Western Hemisphere, Continental Europe and Mediterranean Basin (excluding Russia), the Pacific Area and the Far East, and the British Empire (excluding Canada).” The Grand Area encompassed all known major oil-bearing areas outside the Soviet Union, largely at the behest of corporate partners like the Foreign Oil Committee and the Petroleum Industry War Council.The US thus avoided overt territorial acquisition, like that of the British and French empires, as being too costly, choosing the cheaper option of forcing countries to open their door to American capitalism.Although the United States was the last major belligerent to join World War II, it began planning for the postwar world from the conflict's outset. This postwar vision originated in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an economic elite-led organization that became integrated into the government leadership. CFR's War and Peace Studies group offered its services to the State Department in 1939 and a secret partnership for post-war planning developed. CFR leaders Hamilton Fish Armstrong and Walter H. Mallory saw World War II as a “grand opportunity” for the U.S. to emerge as “the premier power in the world.”This vision of empire assumed the necessity of the U.S. to “police the world” in the aftermath of the war. This was not done primarily out of altruism, but out of economic interest. Isaiah Bowman, a key liaison between the CFR and the State Department, proposed an “American economic Lebensraum.” This built upon the ideas of Time-Life publisher Henry Luce, who (in his “American Century” essay) wrote, “Tyrannies may require a large amount of living space [but] freedom requires and will require far greater living space than Tyranny.” According to Bowman's biographer, Neil Smith:Better than the American Century or the Pax Americana, the notion of an American Lebensraum captures the specific and global historical geography of U.S. ascension to power. After World War II, global power would no longer be measured in terms of colonized land or power over territory. Rather, global power was measured in directly economic terms. Trade and markets now figured as the economic nexuses of global power, a shift confirmed in the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement, which not only inaugurated an international currency system but also established two central banking institutions—the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—to oversee the global economy. These represented the first planks of the economic infrastructure of the postwar American Lebensraum.1947-1952 Cold War in Western Europe: "Empire by invitation"Protest against the deployment of Pershing II missiles in Europe, Hague, Netherlands, 1983Prior to his death in 1945 President Roosevelt was planning to withdraw all U.S. forces from Europe as soon as possible. Soviet actions in Poland and Czechoslovakia led his successor Harry Truman to reconsider. Heavily influenced by George Kennan, Washington policymakers believed that the Soviet Union was an expansionary dictatorship that threatened American interests. In their theory, Moscow's weakness was that it had to keep expanding to survive; and that, by containing or stopping its growth, stability could be achieved in Europe. The result was the Truman Doctrine (1947) regarding Greece and Turkey. A second equally important consideration was the need to restore the world economy, which required the rebuilding and reorganizing of Europe for growth. This matter, more than the Soviet threat, was the main impetus behind the Marshall Plan of 1948. A third factor was the realization, especially by Britain and the three Benelux nations, that American military involvement was needed. Geir Lundestad has commented on the importance of "the eagerness with which America's friendship was sought and its leadership welcomed.... In Western Europe, America built an empire 'by invitation'"At the same time, the U.S. interfered in Italian and French politics in order to purge elected communist officialswho might oppose such invitations.Post 1954 - Korea, Vietnam and “imperial internationalism”Outside of Europe, American imperialism was more distinctly hierarchical “with much fainter liberal characteristics.” Cold War policy often found itself opposed to full decolonization, especially in Asia. The United States decision to colonize some of the Pacific islands (which had formerly been held by the Japanese) in the 1940s ran directly counter to America's rhetoric against imperialism. The functioning of the Grand Area and the Open Door in Asia meant a new “imperial internationalism” wherein wars were fought to ensure a steady supply of raw materials from the global periphery to the core society in the United States and Western Europe. In this spirit, General Douglas MacArthur described the Pacific as an “Anglo-Saxon lake.” At the same time, the U.S. did not claim state control over much mainland territory but cultivated friendly members of the elites of decolonized countries--elites which were usually dictatorial, as in South Korea, Indonesia, and South Vietnam.In South Korea, the U.S. quickly allied with Syngman Rhee, leader of the fight against the popularly established committees that proclaimed a provisional government. The mass call for an independent and unified Korean government was bloodily repressed by Rhee's forces, which were overseen by the U.S. Army. This pre-Korean War violence saw the deaths of 100,000 people, the majority of them civilians.With National Security Council document 68 and the subsequent Korean War, the U.S. adopted a policy of “rollback” against communism in Asia. John Tirman, an American political theorist has asserted that this policy was heavily influenced by America's imperialistic policy in Asia in the 19th century, with its goals to Christianize and Americanizethe peasant masses.In Vietnam, the U.S. again eschewed its anti-imperialist rhetoric by materially supporting the French Empire in a colonial counterinsurgency. Influenced by the Grand Area policy, the U.S. eventually assumed total responsibility for war against the Vietnamese communists, including suppressing nationwide elections when it appeared that Ho Chi Minh would win.The ensuing battles led to large-scale antipersonnel operations in South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, leading Martin Luther King to call the American government “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.”

Here is what he brought to brazil’s government:THE CORRUPTION CABINETJair Bolsonaro Promised to End Corruption in Brazil — Then He Appointed an Extremely Corrupt CabinetDONATE18Jair Bolsonaro, center, arrives for a press conference on the appointment of the ministers of Citizenship, Tourism and Regional Development at the headquarters of the transitional government in Brasilia on Nov. 28, 2018. Photo: Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty ImagesBruna de LaraDecember 9 2018, 6:00 a.m.“OUR GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS will not be led by anyone who’s been convicted of corruption,” said Jair Bolsonaro on October 31, three days after being elected president of Brazil. The goal of his statement, published on his social media feeds, was clear: to deny accusations in the press that he had asked Alberto Fraga, a member of Congress who was convicted of taking bribes, to join his administration.A week earlier, a video had emerged on the Brazilian website R7 with Bolsonaro singing a different tune than his post-election statement. Surrounded by pro-gun members of Congress at a gathering in his home on October 23, Bolsonaro excitedly said, “I can already announce that Fraga will be the one to coordinate the [pro-gun parliamentary] front in my administration.” Hours after Bolsonaro’s tweet about eschewing corrupt officials, however, the R7 video was deleted from the website. It was only the latest episode in which R7, part of the right-wing evangelical Universal Church’s media empire, had crossed the line from journalism to a (poorly) disguised propaganda office.A central talking point of Bolsonaro’s campaign was to market the far-right candidateas the only one who could free Brazil from the ills of corruption. It was an obvious strategy. Corruption was at the top of Brazilians’ lists of concerns, according to a poll published in December by Ibope, a research institute. Corruption ranked higher than health, education, and public safety. It only makes sense for the president-elect to try to disconnect his image from the corrupt politicians that voters have come to hate so intensely. But there’s a problem: Bolsonaro deliberately surrounded himself with these very same corrupt politicians.Examining Bolsonaro’s top deputies and cabinet appointments, it becomes apparent that his speeches against corruption are nothing but empty words. From the allies arrayed alongside Bolsonaro during his first speech as president-elect to the transition team he assembled and the governmental department heads he’s appointed, Bolsonaro picked at least seven people tangled up in scandals, from lawsuits and official investigations to criminal convictions and even confession of guilt.Onyx Lorenzoni, center, accompanies Brazilian economist Paulo Guedes, left, and Brazilian Social Liberal Party vice president Gustavo Bebianno to talk with press in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 30, 2018.Photo: Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty ImagesOnyx Lorenzoni – Chief of StaffA month before Alberto Fraga was caught on tape complaining that the bribes he got were too low, fellow member of Congress Onyx Lorenzoni decided that there was no point in waiting to get caught. In May 2017, Lorenzoni openly admitted to having received R$100,000 ($26,000) in slush funds from a company named JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, which has been subject to many Brazilian Federal Police investigations. “It was the end of the campaign,” he said on a radio program broadcast in southern Brazil, referring to the 2014 election. “It was the end game; we were in debt with distributors.” He added: “I used the money.” The confession never led to any investigation.Lorenzoni had already been investigated for allegedly receiving R$175,000 in bribes from Odebrecht, a major construction company whose owner was imprisoned as part of the Operation Car Wash corruption investigations that have roiled Brazilian politics. Last June, however, the inquiry into Lorenzoni was dismissed by the Supreme Court after Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge claimed that there was insufficient evidence to press charges.Unlike what he did to Fraga, Bolsonaro did not try to dissociate himself from Lorenzoni. Instead, he invited the member of Congress to his victory speech, asked him to coordinate his transition team, and offered him a prime spot in his administration. As of January, Lorenzoni will take up a ministerial position as Bolsonaro’s new chief of staff.Jair Bolsonaro embraces Sen. Magno Malta during a filming ceremony for the PSL party on March 7, 2018.Photo: Mateus Bonomi/AGIF via APMagno Malta – “Dream Vice President”Hand in hand with Bolsonaro, Sen. Magno Malta opened the president-elect’s victory speech with a prayer. Months earlier, he had passed up on the chance to run with Bolsonaro — who called him his “dream vice president” — to make a bid for re-election in the Senate. But Malta failed.Like others in Bolsonaro’s inner circle, Malta has been dogged by rumors around shady dealings and a court case. The Intercept Brasil revealed in September that Malta spent half a million reals of taxpayers’ money at two gas stations between September 2009 and last July. One spate of fuel purchases over a two-month period would be enough for a car to circle the Earth twice — and there would still be some gas left in Malta’s tank. There was, of course, a catch: Both gas stations belong to former state-level member of Congress José Tasso Oliveira de Andrade, who was convicted of tax evasion and stealing public money.In September, a newspaper from Malta’s home state, Espírito Santo, revealed that he had falsely accused a bus-ticket collector of raping his own 2-year-old daughter. The accusation was particularly galling because Malta is the chair of a Congressional Committee investigating pedophilia. The man, Luis Alvez Lima, spent nine months in prison after the 2009 allegation before forensic tests proved that the girl had not been raped. Now, he’s suing Malta, alleging that the senator defamed him in pursuit of raising his own profile and, shockingly, overseeing the psychological torture he suffered in prison. Lima says he was subject to tooth pulling, choking, beating, and electric shocks to his genitals, among other forms of physical torture.On November 6, Bolsonaro said his right-hand man might be the head of the Family Department, a new branch of government that would include the present Social Development Department and Human Rights Department. However, Malta’s bad reputation kept him out of Bolsonaro’s administration in the end. “I thought I’d get a department, but I didn’t,” he told The Intercept in an exclusive interview published last Wednesday. Malta’s disappointment was huge; he said he would be leaving politics.Paulo Guedes, right, and Onyx Lorenzoni arrive at the transitional government’s headquarters in Brasilia on Nov. 21, 2018.Photo: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty ImagesPaulo Guedes – Secretary of EconomyBrazil’s soon-to-be secretary of the economy is under two separate investigations for fraud in investment funds. Paulo Guedes’s investment company, BR Educacional, got R$1 billion from the pension funds of five major state-owned companies — some of which were already under investigation for fraud. Being an economist himself, Guedes was personally responsible for the two funds that received the investment. And it seems that he may have decided to use a large sum of it for his own benefit: Guedes turned around and invested in HSM Educacional — now called BR Educação Executiva, a company he owns. HSM Educacional then bought an out-of-business Argentinian company for over R$16 million. The whole deal was a terrible investment, to say the least: Both companies ended up losing money for stockholders in the following years.The second probe involving Guedes is looking into a possible fraud in an investment his company made in Enesa Participações, an engineering firm. Stockholders trusted the economist’s judgment with R$112 million — and they lost every penny. Caixa Econômica, one of Brazil’s public banks, owned a fifth of those stocks.In addition to all this, Guedes’s company Bozano will likely profit from the neoliberal reforms he intends to push forward. Bozano’s investments depend on the privatization of health, education, and energy services — all part of Guedes’s economic strategy for Brazil. The soon-to-be secretary’s family also stands to benefit from Bolsonaro’s controversial plan to cut funds for public universities: Elizabeth Guedes, Paulo’s sister, is vice president of the National Association of Private Universities.Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes attends a lecture at the Toledo Teaching Institution in Bauru, São Paulo, on Sept. 19, 2018.Photo: Tiago Queirox/Agencia Estado via APMarcos Pontes – Secretary of Science, Technology, and CommunicationsBolsonaro appointed the only Brazilian to have ever traveled to space as head of the new Science, Technology, and Communications Department. Documents obtained by The Intercept indicate that Marcos Pontes, a reserve lieutenant colonel in the Brazilian Air Force, hid assets for over a decade and violated the Military Conduct Code.While he was still on active duty at the Air Force, Pontes was investigated for supposedly owning part of the company Portally Eventos e Produções, registered under the name of one of his press representatives. The lieutenant colonel, though, has always denied his association with Portally, which sells knick-knacks related to his career as an astronaut, such as small figurines, mousepads, and watches. The Brazilian Military Code prohibits military service members from taking part in any commercial activity while they’re on active duty.The investigation into Portally, however, never achieved closure due to the application of the statute of limitations. As soon as he was off the hook, Pontes, already on reserve duty at that point, became the company’s major shareholder, holding 80 percent of Portally. Three years earlier, when he unsuccessfully ran for Congress, Portally Eventos e Produções donated R$20,000 to his campaign. Nowadays, the website produces a steady source of income for Pontes. As a shareholder, he’s entitled to a monthly withdrawal from the company, “the value of which is to be set at each month.”Gen. Augusto Heleno, future defense minister of the Bolsonaro government, on Dec. 4, 2018, at the transition committee headquarters.Photo: Mateus Bonomi/AGIF via APAugusto Heleno – Head Minister of the Institutional Security CabinetBolsonaro’s head of the Institutional Security Cabinet, a federal branch with ministry status known by the initial GSI, was convicted in 2013 by Brazilian’s federal accountability office for authorizing illegal grant agreements for the 2011 Military Games, an international multi-sport competition held every four years, hosted in Rio de Janeiro that year. As head of the Brazilian Army’s Science and Technology Department at the time, Augusto Heleno authorized deals that amounted over R$22 million with two military-related institutes that were supposed to provide services during the games. According to the accountability office’s ruling, those institutes could not have been hired without a public tender, and there was no proof that the partnerships would benefit the army. Heleno appealed the decision, but the court upheld his conviction in 2016 and ordered him to pay a R$4,000 fine.Leading the GSI, which will be under Heleno’s watch starting January, is a high-level office responsible for “immediately” advising the president, especially when it comes to military and security measures; analyzing potential risks to the stability of Brazilian institutions; managing crises in case of “grave and imminent threats”; and coordinating intelligence and security efforts.In June, Bolsonaro asked Heleno to be his vice president, but the general’s party refused to partner with the candidate. After being elected, Bolsonaro first handed Heleno the Department of Defense. On November 7, he was shifted to lead the GSI. This game of musical chairs displeased future Secretary of Justice Sérgio Moro, who would normally oversee the GSI — making it easier for him to rein Bolsonaro in if his long history of authoritarian speech turned into real actions. Under Heleno, the cabinet is now more vulnerable to Bolsonaro’s control.Luiz Henrique Mandetta – Secretary of HealthOn November 20, an announcement came on Twitter for the appointment of Congress member, orthopedist, and pediatrician Luiz Henrique Mandetta as the leader of the Department of Health, which has the largest budget in the federal government. Mandetta held the seat of health secretary in Campo Grande, capital of the Midwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul, between 2005 and 2010, and is now being investigated for influence trafficking, defrauding a public tender, and using slush funds while in office.Criticized for yet another iffy pick for his administration, Bolsonaro merely stated that Mandetta hasn’t been prosecuted and will be taken out of office in case any “robust accusations” are made in the future.Brazilian Deputy Tereza Cristina Correa da Costa Dias, who was appointed to the Ministry of Agriculture by Bolsonaro, leaves her home in Brasilia on Nov. 8, 2018.Photo: Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty ImagesTereza Cristina – Secretary of Agriculture“Poison Muse.” That’s the name many Brazilians have given to future Secretary of Agriculture Tereza Cristina. Though the nickname is used as an insult by her opponents, it was first coined as a compliment. In June, she presided over the congressional committee that pushed through a bill intended to facilitate the approval of new agrotoxics, chemical pesticides that help enhance produce cultivation, but pose serious threats to the environment and human health. The draft bill, which is yet to be voted on in the lower house of Congress, is known as the Poison Bill. But at a celebratory dinner on the committee vote, Cristina’s allies came up with “Poison Muse” to honor her achievement.Cristina’s time in Congress is marked by some little-known facts. She was first elected in 2014 and has seen an almost 50,000 percent increase in her assets since then. And, most relevantly, she has questionable connections to JBS, the meat-processing company drowning in corruption scandals. Between 2011 and 2012, while she was still secretary of agribusiness in the Midwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Cristina signed on to tax incentives for the company that are now under investigation. At the same time, she had a personal business partnership with JBS, leasing land for them to raise cattle. In 2014, she got over R$100,000 in campaign donations from the agricultural giant.Though the tax incentives she signed off on are in the center of the investigation of corruption in her home state, Cristina’s role in it hasn’t been investigated so far. “At this time, she has our full trust,” Bolsonaro said after the Brazilian press highlighted this fishy chapter in Cristina’s political history. “I’m also the defendant in [a case awaiting trial in] the Supreme Court. So what?” Bolsonaro went on, referring to his ongoing suit for supposedly inciting the crime of rape (in Brazil, it’s a felony to incite the practice of crimes).Julian Lemos – Member of the Transition TeamThe leader of Bolsonaro’s party in the state of Paraíba, in northeastern Brazil, Member of Congress Julian Lemos coordinated his campaign in the region, which is historically an electoral stronghold of Bolsonaro’s rival Workers’ Party. In 2011, Lemos was convicted of fraud for using a fake certificate to secure a contract between his company and the state of Paraíba. Lemos pleaded not guilty and appealed the decision, and before the second trial, the crime hit the statute of limitations and Lemos did not face any punishment.Bolsonaro’s “close friend,” as the president-elect himself once referred to Lemos, has also been accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife and his sister, and was arrested once on the charge. Though both women later recanted their testimonies, a forensic examination showed multiple wounds on his sister’s neck, shoulder, and arm. The investigation is ongoing.Aware of Lemos’s conviction for fraud, Bolsonaro declared in March that many of his allies “have messed up, like Julian Lemos here, but are people with something to add to our army.”Gen. Jamil Megid Jr. attends a press conference ahead of the Final Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup on Dec. 4, 2013, in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil.Photo: Clive Mason/Getty ImagesJamil Megid Jr. – Member of the transition teamJamil Megid coordinated the 2011 Military Games and worked on the security arrangements for other major events held in Rio, such as the 2013 World Youth Day, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the 2016 Olympics. He was convicted in 2013 by Brazil’s federal accountability office for irregularities in the Military Games.The accountability office says that some of the services and equipment for the event were hired through padded contracts and were never even provided. The court verified, for example, that the furniture lease for the games cost R$2.6 million more than it would have taken for the army to buy those items. The military also spent R$4.3 million on workers who never provided any services. Earlier this year, however, the conviction was annulled. The accountability office judge responsible for reviewing the case said that organizing the games was so difficult and challenging that it would be unfair to punish Megid for his mistakes.Alexandre Frota at a prayer vigil for Jair Bolsonaro outside the Albert Einstein Hospital on Sept. 7, 2018, after Bolsonaro was attacked.Photo: Suamy Beydoun/AGIF via APAlexandre Frota – Party Colleague Invited to Victory SpeechOne of the select few chosen to appear next to Bolsonaro at his victory speech, Alexandre Frota had just gotten elected to serve his first term as a member of Congress for São Paulo, Brazil’s largest state. Before entering politics under Bolsonaro’s Social Liberal Party, the former porn actor was already somewhat of an idol among the president’s ultraconservative fandom for his rants against “political correctness” and “gender ideology” — a deprecating reference to the debate of gender issues.In 2015, Frota laughingly described on national television how he had raped a “mãe de santo,” a priestess of Afro-Brazilian religions. The actor spent over five minutes telling the talk-show audience how he engaged in intercourse without the woman’s consent. At one point, he admitted to holding the back of her neck so strongly that she blacked out. According to his account, even after rendering the victim unconscious, he did not stop. The audience howled.What clearly sounded like the impromptu confession of a crime was then qualified by Frota as “fiction” shortly after the heavy criticism he got from women’s groups. He was investigated for making apologia for the crime of rape but was never charged. The district attorney said that “Alexandre did not intend to boast for his (reprehensible) conduct, but only to narrate an episode of his life” — which contradicted Frota’s version that the story was fictional. The supposed rape was never investigated and Bolsonaro never commented on the case.It May Not Be Corruption, but …There’s a second category of members in Bolsonaro’s team: those who tread through a gray area of morality.Sérgio Moro arrives at a press conference in Brasília on Nov. 26, 2018.Photo: Jorge William/Agência O Globo via APSérgio Moro – Secretary of JusticeSérgio Moro was a judge-turned-national-hero for his harsh stance in cases related to the Operation Car Wash. He sentenced Brazil’s former President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva in 2017. The appeal hearing upheld the conviction earlier this year. In April, when Lula was ahead in presidential election polls, he was imprisoned. Over the years, Moro has repeatedly stated that he would never go into politics. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to seek any sort of political office because that could — let’s put it this way — raise questions about the integrity of the work I’ve done so far,” he said in an interview with Veja magazine. Less than a year later, Moro seems to have radically changed his opinion. On November 1, the man responsible for removing Bolsonaro’s strongest competitor from the presidential race accepted the president-elect’s invitation to become secretary of justice.Moro’s conflict of interest became even more explicit after Bolsonaro’s vice president, Gen. Hamilton Mourão, told the press that the invitation had first been made while the campaign was still going. A few days before the first round of voting, Moro lifted the gag order on the testimony of Lula’s former Finance Minister Antonio Palocci. The decision breathed new life into Palocci’s earlier accusations, still mostly unproven, regarding bribe payments during Lula and his successor former President Dilma Rousseff’s governments, including R$40 million allegedly directed to Rousseff’s campaign.It took Moro less than a week after accepting his new position to signal that his dedication to the anti-corruption crusade may no longer be a priority. In 2017, the judge said at a Harvard event that he considered political slush funds to be even worse than corruption — but that didn’t keep him from declaring his “great admiration” for Onyx Lorenzoni, the future chief of staff who confessed to using slush funds on his campaign, in November. “As to his mistakes, he himself has admitted [them] and taken the measures to repair them,” Moro said. “He has my full trust,” he added this week. The fact that Lorenzoni was never investigated, let alone punished for the crime, doesn’t seem to bother the newly appointed secretary of justice.Chosen by current President Michel Temer to join the transition team, Marcos Cintra could personally gain from advice that he offers to Bolsonaro’s economic planners.Photo: Photo: Wilson Dias/Agência BrasilMarcos Cintra – Member of the Transition TeamThe economist, one of Paulo Guedes’s advisers, is the chair of Financiadora de Inovação e Pesquisa, or Innovation and Research Financing, a public company under the Science and Technology Department that offers grants to research institutions and companies in the fields of science, technology, and innovation. Marcos Cintra is also vice chair on leave of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, one of Brazil’s most acclaimed private research institutions and most expensive universities. In 2017, the average monthly fee at the university was 4,000 reals.Bolsonaro’s plans to transfer responsibility for public universities from the Department of Education to the new Science, Technology, and Communications Department — as well as his intentions to cut down on public universities’ funding — might end up personally benefiting Cintra.Roberto da Cunha Castello Branco addresses the press outside the transitional government’s headquarters in Brasilia on Nov. 20, 2018.Photo: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty ImagesRoberto da Cunha Castello Branco – Member of the Transition TeamThe economist is a board member of Invepar, a private company that operates 11 of Brazil’s biggest public concerns, including the Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo; Metrô Rio, the subway system in Rio de Janeiro; and VLT Carioca, the light rail system in Rio. Advising the president-elect’s economic team, which already announced plans to broaden privatizations, could directly benefit Branco’s businesses.