Deep state

 ( Authoritarianism ) 

Deep state(calque of )
is a term used for (real or imagined) potential, unauthorized and often secret networks of power operating within a government but independently of its political leadership, in pursuit of their own agendas and goals.

Although the term originated in Turkey ("Derin Devlet"),

various interpretations of the concept have emerged in other national contexts. In some, "deep state" is used to refer to perceived shadowy conspiracies, while in others it describes concerns about the enduring influence of military, intelligence, and bureaucratic institutions on democratic governance. In many cases, the perception of a deep state is shaped by historical events, political struggles, and the balance of power within government institutions.

The use of the term has expanded beyond political science into popular culture, journalism and conspiracy theories, reflecting a broad range of beliefs about hidden networks of power operating behind the scenes. Particularly after the 2016 United States presidential election, deep state became much more widely used as a pejorative term alluding to a conspiracy theory in the United States scurrilously promoted by both the Donald Trump administration and conservative-leaning media outlets.

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Etymology The term "deep state" is a direct calque of the Turkish phrase derin devlet (). It originally emerged in Turkey to describe an alleged network of military, intelligence, and bureaucratic elements operating independently of elected officials to maintain a particular ideological or political status quo.

While the exact origins of the term are debated, some historians suggest that the concept of a "deep state" in Turkey dates back to the early years of the republic, referring to informal power structures within the military and bureaucracy. Others argue that the modern interpretation is more closely tied to the Cold War era, when covert operations were conducted to prevent political instability and counter Soviet influence.

The idea of a "deep state" is not exclusive to Turkey. Many countries have had similar concepts describing secretive power structures operating behind the scenes. Although the terminology varies, the idea often refers to military, intelligence, or bureaucratic networks that exert control beyond the reach of democratic institutions.

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Precursors of the deep state concept The idea of hidden networks exerting secret control over governments has historical precedents that predate the modern concept of a deep state. Throughout history, societies have expressed fears about hidden enemies, clandestine groups and secretive bureaucratic or military forces undermining legitimate governance. While these fears have varied across time periods, they share common themes of suspicion toward unaccountable power, conspiratorial networks and elite control.

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Witchcraft and demonic conspiracies In Medieval Europe and early modern Europe, the fear of hidden enemies often manifested as suspicions of witchcraft and Satanism. The Malleus Maleficarum (1487), one of the most influential treatises on witchcraft, codified the idea that witches formed an organized, clandestine network working to subvert Christendom. This idea fueled mass hysteria, leading to Witch hunt and Inquisition across Europe and colonial North America, where authorities used such accusations to suppress dissent and reinforce state and church control.

Yuval Noah Harari (2024). 9780593734223, Random House. ISBN 9780593734223

Yuval Noah Harari notes that this fear of hidden enemies parallels some modern deep-state conspiracy theories, particularly QAnon, which similarly portray a secret, malevolent network engaged in satanic rituals, child sacrifice, and efforts to corrupt society. Just as the Malleus Maleficarum claimed witches formed pacts with the Devil to abduct and sacrifice children, QAnon alleges that political elites participate in global child trafficking rings to harvest “adrenochrome,” a real and easily-synthesised compound mythologised in popular culture into a sinister drug obtainable only from the glands of a living human body. According to Harari, both narratives rely on circular reasoning—where denial is seen as further proof of guilt—and justify extreme actions. Rooted in Apocalypticism and dualistic thinking, these conspiracies frame political conflicts as battles between good and evil, reinforcing authority by channeling societal anxieties into moral panics that demand the purging of hidden enemies.

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Secret societies and political subversion During the Age of Enlightenment, fears of hidden power structures evolved from supernatural enemies into concerns about elite networks influencing governance. The Freemasonry and the Illuminati became subjects of conspiracy theories, accused of manipulating political systems from behind the scenes.Mark Kurlansky Big lies: From Socrates to social media. Tilbury House Publishers and Cadent Publishing, 2022.

The German Enlightenment thinker Christoph Martin Wieland explored these concerns in his 1788 work The Secret of the Order of Cosmopolitans. Wieland speculated on how secret organizations, often claiming to work in the public interest, might instead become a state within a state, subverting legitimate political institutions. His work reflects broader Enlightenment-era concerns about the influence of Secret society on governance. While Wieland did not advocate conspiracy theories, he critically examined the tension between secret power structures and public accountability.

Christoph Martin Wieland (2025). 9783819044144, epubli. ISBN 9783819044144

These fears intensified after the French Revolution (1789–1799), when some political factions accused secret societies of engineering political upheaval. Governments across Europe and North America responded with restrictive policies against Fraternity and underground political groups, reflecting anxieties about hidden forces shaping national affairs.

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Capitalism, financial institutions, and anti-semitism The 19th century marked a turning point in human history, as capitalism and global financial institutions reshaped political power. As Harari argues in , capitalism thrives on the shared belief in financial systems, credit, and economic growth—a shift that allowed banks, corporations, and private capital to exert unprecedented influence over governments and society.

Yuval Noah Harari (2015). 9780062316097, Harper. ISBN 9780062316097

This transformation led to widespread fears that financial elites had supplanted traditional political authority, embedding themselves as a permanent and unaccountable ruling class. Financial crisis like the Panic of 1873 reinforced fears that unelected financial elites dictated economic policy, prioritizing their own interests over national stability.

While earlier deep-state concerns mostly centered on secret societies like the Freemasons and Illuminati, new narratives falsely alleged that Jewish financiers and banking elites controlled global politics and economies. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fabricated document first circulated in the late 19th century, reinforced these claims by depicting a secret Jewish cabal manipulating world affairs. During the 1848 European Revolutions and the Paris Commune, reactionary groups accused Jewish bankers—particularly the Rothschild family—of using financial influence to destabilize governments and promote revolutionary change. These accusations paralleled broader fears that unelected elites exerted control beyond public accountability.

Economic power remains a core element of modern deep-state concerns. The Federal Reserve, IMF, and World Economic Forum (WEF) are frequently criticized for shaping global financial policies beyond democratic oversight.

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The deep state as a political weapon

The early 20th century was marked by political and social upheaval, fueling anxieties about hidden power structures manipulating government affairs. As states faced revolution, war, and economic crises, leaders increasingly warned of shadowy elites and internal conspiracies to justify crackdowns on political opposition and civil liberties. While concerns about entrenched influence within bureaucracies, militaries, and financial institutions were sometimes valid, governments often exploited these fears to consolidate power, suppress dissent, and expand authoritarian control under the guise of protecting democracy.

One of the most prominent deep state narratives emerged in response to the Russian Revolution of 1917. The sudden collapse of the Russian Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks' rise to power fueled speculation that the revolution was orchestrated by secretive forces rather than the result of social and economic tensions. Some anti-Bolshevik factions promoted the “Judeo-Bolshevik” conspiracy theory, which falsely claimed that Jewish revolutionaries had coordinated the uprising to subvert nations and manipulate governments for power and profit. This theory, though widely discredited, contributed to the broader perception that communist movements were part of an international deep state operating beyond public accountability.

Roger Eatwell (1996). 9780713991475, New York : Allen Lane. . ISBN 9780713991475

The Nazi regime weaponized fears of hidden power structures to justify brutal crackdowns and eliminate rivals. The Night of the Long Knives (1934) was framed as a defense against internal conspirators, but it was a carefully orchestrated purge to solidify Nazi rule. Unlike the Weimar Republic’s flawed but legally bound institutions, the Gestapo, Schutzstaffel, and SD operated without oversight, wielding state power to suppress dissent. By fabricating threats of shadowy elites and internal betrayal, the Nazis legitimized their own unaccountable rule, using the illusion of a deep state to create an openly repressive one.

Similar patterns emerged in Fascist Italy and Spain, where authoritarian leaders used deep state rhetoric to justify political crackdowns. Benito Mussolini’s government portrayed liberal politicians, socialists, and anti-fascist activists as part of a clandestine force working against national unity. In Francoist Spain, Francisco Franco framed opposition groups as elements of an international conspiracy, using deep state allegations to centralize control and suppress dissent. While both regimes exaggerated the existence of an organized deep state, they also operated within bureaucratic environments where military, judicial, and aristocratic elites retained substantial influence over governance, even as political power formally shifted.

Historian Niall Ferguson notes that deep state narratives often emerge in times of crisis, offering simplified explanations for complex events. While sometimes rooted in real power struggles, governments have frequently cultivated these fears to justify repression, using deep state rhetoric to frame ideological subversion as a threat, silence dissent, and expand control—ultimately entrenching the very unaccountable power they claimed to expose.

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Cold War narratives Following World War II, the geopolitical restructuring significantly expanded global intelligence and security networks. The ensuing Cold War heightened fears of clandestine influence within governments, fueling perceptions of secretive power structures—conceptually analogous to the modern "deep state." Although the term frequently appears in United States contexts, similar anxieties independently emerged worldwide, including in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia.

The Bretton Woods system, established in 1944, shaped global economic governance and fostered suspicion of hidden financial influence exerted by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. This contributed to narratives of economic elites operating beyond democratic accountability and manipulating national sovereignty.

The postwar era witnessed unprecedented growth in intelligence apparatuses globally. Prominent examples included the Soviet Union's KGB, West Germany's Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), and East Germany's Stasi, each influential in internal surveillance and international espionage, deepening public suspicion regarding hidden bureaucratic influences. The KGB, in particular, wielded power beyond elected officials, militaries, and political organizations in Soviet satellite states, establishing itself as a dominant force that controlled governance through espionage, covert operations, and extensive surveillance, effectively superseding official political structures.

Cold War proxy conflicts reinforced the belief in covert foreign manipulation of national sovereignty. Events such as Indonesia's mass killings of 1965–1966, largely orchestrated by military forces supported by Western intelligence, and the Iran's 1953 coup, carried out by the CIA and British intelligence, reflected intensified fears of hidden international interference and subversion.

The emergence of the "military–industrial complex," first publicly articulated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1961, highlighted the relationship between governments, militaries, and defense industries. This complex fostered concerns about unaccountable networks influencing government policy to perpetuate military spending, conflicts, and geopolitical tensions.

Authoritarian and puppet regimes worldwide, including Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser, Brazil during its military dictatorship, and Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe, institutionalized intelligence operations, fostering enduring suspicions of covert power structures and hidden governance within ostensibly independent states.

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Deep state by country

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China Academics specializing in Chinese politics and history have noted the parallels between the way Mao's government saw the deep state and the way the Trump administration saw the deep state. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama has cited America's long-term competition with China as a reason to defend the American deep state.

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Egypt The concept of a deep state in Egypt is frequently associated with the powerful military and intelligence apparatus that has historically influenced the country’s political landscape, since 1952. Following the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, opposition figures accused elements within the military and bureaucracy of working to undermine the elected government. The 2013 military coup led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was seen by many as an example of the deep state's enduring power in Egypt, ensuring that military and intelligence agencies retained control over key aspects of governance.

In 2013, author Abdul-Azim Ahmed wrote the deep state was being used to refer to Egyptian military/security networks, headed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, basically remnants of the former regime who are combatting the democratic transition. 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."

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Germany The idea of a deep state in Germany has historical parallels in intellectual discourse. The Enlightenment writer Christoph Martin Wieland explored concerns about covert networks influencing political power in his 1788 work The Secret of the Order of Cosmopolitans. Wieland’s writing, though fictionalized, anticipated fears that Secret society could establish a state within a state, operating beyond public accountability. His work offers an early literary reflection on the challenges of governance and transparency.

Christoph Martin Wieland (2025). 9783819044144, epubli. ISBN 9783819044144

In our times, the Reichsbürger movement movement of far-right extremists reject the legitimacy of the Federal Republic of Germany and assert that the German Reich, which existed prior to 1945, continues to exist, and that this is the real legitimate government. Members of this movement refuse to pay taxes, issue their own identification documents, and often engage in pseudo-legal tactics to assert their views. In December 2022, German authorities foiled a coup plot orchestrated by a group influenced by the Reichsbürger movement and QAnon conspiracy theories. The conspirators aimed to overthrow the German government and install a new regime led by Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss, a minor aristocrat. The plot involved recruiting former military personnel and stockpiling weapons, intending to use force to achieve their goals. The group had mapped out a new government structure and appointed individuals to cabinet-like roles in anticipation of their success. They sought to cooperate with Russia, though there is no evidence that Russia supported or responded positively to their overtures.

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Iran In Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is often considered a significant deep state entity due to its substantial economic, political, and military power. The IRGC operates with considerable autonomy from the elected government and has been involved in various covert operations and influence campaigns. This includes control over significant economic sectors, involvement in foreign military activities, and influence over domestic policy decisions. The IRGC's pervasive influence is seen as a central component of Iran's deep state, shaping both internal and external politics in alignment with its agenda.