The retired sociology professor and geo-political analyst extraordinaire provides essentially an outline of a handbook on how Empire imperialists destabilize countries in order to integrate them within their Empire. Here it is:
...when attempting to weaken or overthrow a nationalist-populist regime, the empire will resort to multiple forms of attack including (1) corruption (buying off government backers) (2) funding and organizing opposition media, parties, business and trade union organizations, (3) organizing and backing disloyal military officials to violently overthrow the elected government (4) support employers’ lockouts to paralyze strategic sectors of the economy (oil)(5) financing referendums and other ‘legal mechanisms’ to revoke democratic mandates, (6) promoting paramilitary groups to destabilize civil society and sow public insecurity and undermine agrarian reforms; (7) finance electoral parties and non-governmental organizations to compete in and delegitimize elections; (8) engage in diplomatic warfare and efforts to prejudice regional relations; (9) establish military bases in neighboring countries, as a platform for joint military invasions.He then finds a perfect illustration of the application of these methods in the historical relations between the US and Venezuela over the past 30 years.
Let me add that following the integration of a client state into the US Empire, we see Empire directors actively promoting ties with client states' military command through training and social junkets, abundant military aid, and advice on how to control their populations. Egypt, Columbia, Honduras, Guatamala, and El Salvador provide excellent illustrations of this.