deep state
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdiːp ˈsteɪt/
Forms: form: deep states
Etymology: A calque of Turkish derin devlet (“deep state”). Early uses were in relation to Turkey, especially the 1996 Susurluk scandal.
Senses: examples: text: The ‘deep state’ remains hidden from the public. It is staffed by the security personnel. Its activities and the driving principles behind those activities are not decided by the legislature, controlled by the judiciary, or challenged by the popular will […]
ref: 1997, Turkish Probe, Ankara, Turkey: Turkish Daily News, →OCLC, page 111:
text: The term "deep state" is used in two different senses in Turkey. The first is rooted in a type of secret organization affiliated with NATO, which, with time, degenerated into an organized crime group engaged in the pursuit of private gain. In the second sense, the "deep state" is a type of special organization entrenched within the state apparatus and strives to keep the state on a predetermined course.
ref: 2010, Atay Akdevelioğlu [et al.], translated by Mustafa Akşin, edited by Baskın Oran, Turkish Foreign Policy, 1919–2006: Facts and Analyses with Documents (Utah Series in Turkish and Islamic Studies), Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, →ISBN, page 658:
text: Since 1989–90, Pakistan’s ‘deep state’ – the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – has been waging a war against India through asymmetric means. The deep state has been sponsoring radical extremist organisations […]
ref: 2017, Gurmeet Kanwal, “India: Reluctant Nuclear Power”, in Sharpening the Arsenal: India’s Evolving Nuclear Deterrence Policy, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India: HarperCollins Publishers India, →ISBN:
text: Deep states do not arise in economic and historic vacuums; rather, they reflect their societies' economies and histories. Most deep state analysis comes out of the United States and Turkey and concentrates on military and security interests joining with corporate, technological, and financial interests to form deep states.
ref: 2017, Kevin Taft, “Oil and the Deep State”, in Oil’s Deep State: How the Petroleum Industry Undermines Democracy and Stops Action on Global Warming – in Alberta, and in Ottawa, Toronto, Ont.: James Lorimer & Company, →ISBN, part 2 (Capture), page 121:
text: The Storm boils down to the idea that the US president is working to wipe out the effects of globalisation, a concept much hated by his supporters. To achieve this, he will apparently dismantle the 'deep state'.
ref: 2018 January 15, Kashmira Gander, “What is The Storm? Conspiracy theory that mysterious White House official QAnon is leaking secrets”, in International Business Times:
text: But over the last three weeks, the deep state has emerged from the shadows in the form of real live government officials, past and present, who have defied a White House attempt to block cooperation with House impeachment investigators and provided evidence that largely backs up the still-anonymous whistle-blower.
ref: 2019 October 23, Peter Baker, Lara Jakes, Julian E. Barnes, Sharon LaFraniere, Edward Wong, “Trump’s War on the ‘Deep State’ Turns Against Him”, in The New York Times:
text: The group was convinced modern Germany was run by a “deep state” conspiracy that was about to be exposed by an alliance of German intelligence agencies and the militaries of foreign states including Russia and the US.
ref: 2022 December 7, Philip Oltermann, “German police raids target far-right extremists ‘seeking to overthrow state’”, in The Guardian:
text: That expectation of dramatic revelations has become a defining feature of MAGA-era politics. From alleged UFO cover-ups to Epstein's supposed "client list," Trump loyalists — and sometimes Trump himself — stoked the belief that sinister truths would soon be exposed and that the Deep State was partly to blame.
ref: 2025 July 10, Jesus Mesa, “'We've Been Played': MAGA Faces Its Own Disappointment With Trump”, in Newsweek:
text: Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman who ran against Trump for president in 2020, said: “I talk to the base every day and nothing animates the base more than the deep state. This Epstein thing was Trump’s promise. This was going to finally expose the deep state. Now Trump says nothing there? It ain’t going to stand.”
ref: 2025 July 19, David Smith, quoting Joe Walsh, “‘The ghost of Epstein is haunting Trump’s presidency’: inside the ‘Maga’ revolt”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
topics: government
politics
qualifier: conspiracy research
glosses: A large group of people, typically members of government agencies and the military, believed to have enduring political influence that is difficult for an administration that is voted into power to counter or dislodge.
Synonyms: shadow government
state within a state
Derived terms: deep stater