Jump to content

Deep state

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromState within a state)
For other uses, seeDeep state (disambiguation).

Adeep state[1]is a type of government made up of potentially secret and unauthorized networks of power operating independently of astate's political leadership in pursuit of their own agenda and goals. In popular usage, the term carries overwhelmingly negative connotations and is often associated withconspiracy theories.[2]

During thepresidency of Donald Trump,the term "deep state" has been primarily used in the United States to describe the "permanent government" of entrenched career bureaucrats orcivil servantsacting in accordance with the mandates of their agencies and congressional statutes when seen as in conflict with the administration.[3]

Etymology and historical usage[edit]

"Deep state" is acalqueof the Turkish wordderin devlet(lit. 'deep state'). The modern concept of a deep state is associated withTurkey,a presumed secret network of military officers and their civilian allies trying to preserve the secular order based on the ideas ofMustafa Kemal Atatürkfrom 1923.[4]There are also opinions that the deep state in Turkey and "Counter-Guerrilla"was established in theCold Warera as a part ofGladio Organizationto sway Turkey more intoNATOagainst the threat of the expansion ofSoviet communism.[5]

Popular understanding[edit]

After the2016 United States presidential election,deep statebecame much more widely used as a pejorative term with an overwhelmingly negative definition by both theDonald Trump administrationand conservative-leaning media outlets.[6][7]

Cases[edit]

Chechnya[edit]

According to the journalistJulia Ioffe,the RussianRepublic of Chechnya,under the leadership ofRamzan Kadyrov,had become a state within a state by 2015.[8]

Egypt[edit]

In 2013, author Abdul-Azim Ahmed wrote thedeep statewas being used to refer to Egyptian military/security networks, particularly theSupreme Council of the Armed Forcesafter the2011 Egyptian revolution.They are "non-democratic leaders within a country" whose power is "independent of any political changes that take place". They are "often hidden beneath layers of bureaucracy" and may not be "in complete control at all times" but have "tangible control of key resources (whether human or financial)". He also wrote: "The 'deep state' is beginning to become short hand for the embedded anti-democratic power structures within a government, something very few democracies can claim to be free from."[9]

Israel[edit]

In May 2020, an article inHaaretzdescribes how people meeting Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu"have heard lengthy speeches [...] that even though he has been elected repeatedly, in reality, the country is controlled by a 'deep state.'"[10]

Italy[edit]

The most famous case isPropaganda Due.[11]Propaganda Due (better known as P2) was a Masonic lodge belonging to theGrand Orient of Italy(GOI). It was founded in 1877 with the name of Masonic Propaganda,[12]in the period of its management by the entrepreneurLicio Gelliit assumed deviated forms with respect to the statutes of the Freemasonry and became subversive towards the Italian legal order. The P2 was suspended by the GOI on 26 July 1976; subsequently, the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the P2 Masonic lodge under the presidency of MinisterTina Anselmiconcluded the P2 case by denouncing the lodge as a real "criminal organization"[13]and "subversive". It was dissolved with a special law, the n. 17 of 25 January 1982.

Middle East[edit]

Robert Worth arguesdeep stateis "just as apt" for networks in many states in the Middle East where governments have colluded with smugglers andjihadis(Syria),jihadi veteransof theSoviet–Afghan War(Yemen), and other criminals working asirregularforces (Egypt and Algeria).[14]In his bookFrom Deep State to Islamic State,he describes a hard core of regimes in Syria, Egypt, and Yemen that staged successfulcounter-revolutionsagainst theArab Springin those countries, comparing them with theMamluksof Egypt and the Levant 1250–1517 in that they proclaim themselves servants of the putative rulers while actually ruling themselves.[15]

Pakistan[edit]

Main article:The Establishment (Pakistan)

Since independence, thePakistan Armed Forceshave always had a huge influence inthe country's politics.[16]In addition to the decades of direct rule by the military government, the military also has many constraints on the power of the elected prime ministers, and also has been accused of being a deep state.[17][18][19]Pakistan Armyis often referred to as "The Establishment"due to its deep involvement in country's decision-making processes.[20]

Turkey[edit]

Main article:Deep state in Turkey

According to the JournalistRobert F. Worth,"The expression 'deep state' had originated in Turkey in the 1990s, where the military colluded with drug traffickers and hit men to wage a dirty war againstKurdish insurgents".[14]Professor Ryan Gingeras wrote that the Turkish termderin devlet"colloquially speaking" refers to "'criminal' or 'rogue' element that have somehow muscled their way into power".[21]The journalistDexter Filkinswrote of a "presumed clandestine network" of Turkish "military officers and their civilian allies" who, for decades, "suppressed and sometimes murdered dissidents, Communists, reporters, Islamists, Christian missionaries, and members of minority groups—anyone thought to pose a threat to the secular order".[22]Journalist Hugh Roberts has described the "shady nexus" between the police and intelligence services, "certain politicians and organised crime", whose members believe they are authorised "to get up to all sorts of unavowable things" because they are "custodians of the higher interests of the nation".[15]

United Kingdom[edit]

TheCivil Servicehas been called a deep state by senior politicians. In 2018,Steve Hilton,then advisor toDavid Cameron,claimedTony Blairhad said: "You cannot underestimate how much they believe it's their job to actually run the country and to resist the changes put forward by people they dismiss as 'here today, gone tomorrow' politicians. They genuinely see themselves as the true guardians of the national interest, and think that their job is simply to wear you down and wait you out."[23]The British comedy seriesYes Ministerpaints the conflict of the civil servant and the politician in charge in a humoristic way.

In February 2024, formerConservativePrime MinisterLiz Trussclaimed that she was forced out of office by the 'deep state' during an appearance at that year'sConservative Political Action Conferencein the US. This statement was criticised within her own party and by the opposition, with bothLabour PartyShadow Paymaster GeneralJonathan Ashworthand theLiberal DemocratsDeputy LeaderDaisy Cooperreferring to it as a "conspiracy theory".[24][25]

United States[edit]

Main article:Deep state in the United States

Since at least 1963, the deep state has been used to describe "a hybrid association of government elements and parts of top-level industry and finance that is effectively able to govern the United States without reference to theconsent of the governedas expressed through the formal political process. "[26]Intelligence agencies such as theCIAhave been accused by elements of theDonald Trumpadministration of attempting to thwart its policy goals.[27]Writing forThe New York Times,the analyst Issandr El Amani warned against the "growing discord between a president and his bureaucratic rank-and-file", while analysts of the columnThe Interpreterwrote:[27]

Though the deep state is sometimes discussed as a shadowy conspiracy, it helps to think of it instead as a political conflict between a nation's leader and its governing institutions.

— Amanda Taub and Max Fisher,The Interpreter

According to the political commentatorDavid Gergen,quoted byTimein early 2017, the term has been appropriated bySteve Bannon,Breitbart News,and other supporters of theTrump Administrationin order to delegitimize critics of the Trump presidency.[28]In February 2017, the deep state theory was dismissed by authors forThe New York Times,[27]as well asThe New York Observer.[29]In October 2019The New York Timesgave credence to the general idea by publishing an opinion piece arguing that the deep state in the civil service was created to "battle people like Trump".[30]

Scholars have generally disputed the notion that the U.S. executive branch bureaucracy represents a true deep state as the term is formally understood but have taken a range of views on the role of that bureaucracy in constraining or empowering the U.S. president.[31]

Venezuela[edit]

Further information:Cartel of the Suns
See also:State protector

The Cartel of the Suns, a group of high-ranking officials within the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela, has been described as "a series of often competing networks buried deep within the Chavista regime". Following theBolivarian Revolution,the Bolivarian government initiallyembezzleduntil there were no more funds to embezzle, which required them to turn to drug trafficking. PresidentHugo Chávezmade partnerships with the Colombian leftist militiaRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)and his successorNicolás Madurocontinued the process, promoting officials to high-ranking positions after they were accused of drug trafficking.[32]

Other alleged cases[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^(calqueofTurkish:derin devlet)
    "deep state".Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
  2. ^Byford, Jovan (2011).Conspiracy theories: a critical introduction.Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire:Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN9780230349216.OCLC802867724.
  3. ^Rebecca Ingber,"The 'Deep State' Myth and the Real Executive Branch Bureaucracy";Rebecca Ingber,Bureaucratic Resistance and the Deep State Myth
  4. ^Filkins, Dexter (12 March 2012)."The Deep State"(PDF).The New Yorker.Retrieved31 December2018.
  5. ^""Kontrgerilla", "Gladio", "Derin Devlet" gibi kavramlar hakkında "(Press release) (in Turkish).Turkish Armed Forces.2006-01-16. BA-01/06. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-03-08.
  6. ^Michaels, Jon D. (March 2018)."The American Deep State".Notre Dame Law Review.93(4): 1653–1670 – via HeinOnline.
  7. ^Skowronek, Stephen; Dearborn, John A. & King, Desmond (2021).Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-754308-5.
  8. ^Julia Ioffe (24 July 2015)."Putin Is Down With Polygamy".Foreign Policy.Retrieved28 January2016.
  9. ^Abdul-Azim Ahmed."What is the Deep State? | On Religion – The UK's first magazine about faith, religion and society".onreligion.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-04-27.Retrieved2014-09-14.
  10. ^"Netanyahu: 'Deep State' Controls Israel, There's No Democracy Here".haaretz.Retrieved11 November2020.
  11. ^"BBC on this day – 26 – 1981: Italy in crisis as cabinet resigns".1981-05-26.Retrieved9 April2017.
  12. ^Dino P. Arrigo, Fratelli d'Italia. Cronache, storie, riti e personaggi (per capire la Massoneria), Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 1994, p. 45.
  13. ^Willan, Puppetmasters, p. 50.
  14. ^abWorth, Robert F. (2016).A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS.Pan Macmillan. pp. 82, 139.ISBN9780374710712.Retrieved31 July2016.
  15. ^abRoberts, Hugh (16 July 2015)."The Hijackers [book review]".London Review of Books.37(14).Retrieved7 August2016.
  16. ^"'Allah, army and America': How Pakistan's Khan played anti-U.S. card ".Nikkei Asia.
  17. ^"The shadow of the deep state".DAWN.COM. 24 May 2022.
  18. ^"Understanding Pakistan's 'deep state' and its threat to world".indiasentinels.Retrieved21 November2021.
  19. ^Husain Haqqani."Deep State, Deeper Problems: Pakistan".Hudson Institute.Retrieved11 July2018.
  20. ^Jaffrelot, Christophe (2015).The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience.Oxford University Press. p. 586.ISBN978-0-19-023518-5.The civil-military establishment ruled Supreme for 60 years - from 1947 to 2007 - by crushing or betraying social movements and preventing the development of society.
  21. ^Gingeras, Ryan (Summer 2011). "In the Hunt for the" Sultans of Smack: "Dope, Gangsters and the Construction of the Turkish Deep State".Middle East Journal.65(3): 427.doi:10.3751/65.3.14.JSTOR23012173.PMID22081838.S2CID36893626.
  22. ^Filkins, Dexter (12 March 2012)."Letter from Turkey. The Deep State".New Yorker.Retrieved7 August2016.
  23. ^Khan, Shehab (6 February 2018)."David Cameron's former director of strategy says Tony Blair warned him about a 'deep state' conspiracy".The Independent.Retrieved26 April2018.
  24. ^Mason, Rowena (23 February 2024)."Sunak urged to act against Truss for spreading rightwing conspiracy theories".The Guardian.Archived fromthe originalon 24 February 2024.Retrieved4 July2024.
  25. ^"Liz Truss questioned on 'deep state' comments".BBC News.Retrieved2024-03-28.
  26. ^
  27. ^abcTaub, Amanda; Fisher, Max (February 16, 2017)."As Leaks Multiply, Fears of a 'Deep State' in America".The New York Times.Retrieved2018-11-15.
  28. ^Abramson, Alana (March 8, 2017)."President Trump's Allies Keep Talking About the 'Deep State'. What's That?".Time.'This is a dark conspiratorial view that is being pushed by [top Trump strategist] Steve Bannon, his allies at Breitbart and some others in the conservative movement that is trying to delegitimize the opposition to Trump in many quarters and pass the blame to others,' said David Gergen.
  29. ^Schindler, John R. (February 22, 2017)."Rebellion Brews in Washington – But American 'Deep State' Is Only a Myth".The New York Observer.RetrievedJune 13,2018.
  30. ^O'Mara, Margaret (October 26, 2019)."The 'Deep State' Exists to Battle People Like Trump".The New York Times.
  31. ^Rebecca Ingber, Bureaucratic Resistance and the National Security State, athttps://papers.ssrn /sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3186259;Jack Goldsmith, The Deep State is Real, athttps:// theguardian /commentisfree/2018/apr/22/leaks-trump-deep-state-fbi-cia-michael-flynn
  32. ^Venezuela: A Mafia State?.Medellín,Colombia:InSight Crime.2018. pp. 3–84.
  33. ^Archived copyArchived13 March 2017 at theWayback Machine
  34. ^"The Yakuza's Ties to the Japanese Right Wing".Vice Today.
  35. ^Grabianowski, Ed (19 July 2007)."Yakuza and Politics – How the Yakuza Works".howstuffworks.
  36. ^Latif Khan, Furkan (3 May 2019)."The Powerful Group Shaping The Rise Of Hindu Nationalism In India".National Public Radio.
  37. ^George, Varghese K. (13 June 2020)."The RSS and the making of the Deep Nation' review: The ambiguity of the RSS and its complex worldview".The Hindu.
  38. ^Indonesian Military May Threaten Political Unity, BP Gas Investment19 April 2002wsj,accessed 11 November 2020
  39. ^Military spat a sign of things to come for bilateral relationship?30 January 2017indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au,accessed 11 November 2020
  40. ^Tim Mawar promotions slammed by families30 September 2020thejakartapost,accessed 11 November 2020
  41. ^"The Iranian Deep State: Understanding The Politics Of Transition In The Islamic Republic".Hoover Institution.Retrieved2022-03-31.
  42. ^"Ex CIA director sees Serbs as masters of" deep state "".B92. 13 February 2018.Retrieved20 April2019.
  43. ^"They'll Get You No Matter What": Morocco's Playbook to Crush Dissent(Report). Human Rights Watch. 2022-07-28.Retrieved2022-08-08.In some respects, the term [Makhzen] could be analogous to "the deep state" as the term is applied to some segments of the governing authorities in other countries.
  44. ^Lamzouwaq, Saad Eddine (2013-10-13)."Morocco's New Government:" The Makhzen "is Running the Show".Morocco World News.Retrieved2022-08-08.
  45. ^Who Controls Pakistan's Powerful ISI?,Radio Free Europe,August 14, 2008
  46. ^"Pakistan's shadowy secret service, the ISI".BBC News.3 May 2011.
  47. ^Carla Del Ponte/Serge Brammertz(10 July 2008)."The Prosecutor vs. Jovica Stanišić & Franko Simatović - Third Amended Indictment"(PDF).International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.Retrieved28 December2010.
  48. ^"Antiterrorist Liberation Groups Spanish paramilitary organization Alternative Titles: GAL, Grupos Antiteroristas de Liberación".Britannica.Retrieved23 May2021.
  49. ^Thailand's Deep State, Royal Power and the Constitutional Court 1997-201529 February 2016tandfonline,accessed 11 November 2020
  50. ^"The City: A state within a state".BBC News.2011-11-04.Retrieved9 April2017.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deep_state&oldid=1235111620"