With the US election upon us the deep state is a topic of discussion once again. The deep state became a central rallying cry for Donald Trump when special counsel Robert Mueller launched an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election. The term reached mainstream recognition under the presidency of Donald Trump, who referenced an alleged deep state working against him and his administration’s agenda. The origin of the term deep state comes from Türkiye where a secret network of military officers and their civilian allies worked to preserve the secular nature of Türkiye.[1]
The deep state describes the reality where real power is hidden behind the image of an elected government, political parties and a parliament. The Webster Dictionary, one of the oldest in the world, describes the deep state as: “an alleged secret network of especially non elected government officials and sometimes private entities operating beyond the law to influence and enact government policy.” This implies that beneath the systems and constitution, there is a deeper power in control of a nation. This power has its own agenda and can undermine the decisions of the elected government. Its power derives from control of the mechanisms of power and being invisible. A 2018 US poll found that more than 70% of Americans think that there is a group of unelected officials who secretly influence policy.[2]
The Administrative State
The deep state in the US is a real thing. It has been in place since 1871 and continues to represent the real mechanism beneath the US federal government, controlling and frequently reshaping elected officials’ policies. This administrative state was created to limit the power of the president and was originally envisaged as the Civil Service which has today grown in size and scope.
Prior to 1871, the president could select federal employees and he naturally selected loyalists who would do his bidding. Over time positions were sold or given to loyalists in return for favours. From this grew the idea of a non-political civil service that would be both a meritocracy and a technocracy. Civil servants would be selected by competitive exams measuring their skills for the job. And the job of civil servants would be to implement laws passed by Congress in the manner the president wanted them enforced.
During and after the American Civil War, government laws and policies had become far more complex with more long-lasting effects on society. A presidential term lasted four years; policies could last for generations. If administrators were replaced every time a president left office, as previously had been the case, there would be no continuity in government. Government operations had outgrown a president’s term.
The deep state in the US is a real thing. It has been in place since 1871 and continues to represent the real mechanism beneath the US federal government, controlling and frequently reshaping elected officials’ policies
This idea mandated a separation between the political state and the administrative state. As the state acquired more responsibility and its tasks became more complex, government administration had to be taken away from the politicians, who were unskilled at the job. This was in many ways the origins of technocracy, a doctrine that says a government run by experts broadly guided by their political masters was the only way to correct a democratic republic’s shortcomings. Elected politicians provided direction, while technocrats provided expertise, advice and continuity.
The administrative state had its own hierarchy and management, which the president could no longer dismiss. To get around this a super civil service, known as C-List appointees, answerable to the president was created. In time they would number in the thousands and they rarely met with the president. This was further compounded by the rise of independent agencies like the Federal Reserve, the CIA, and countless other autonomous and semi-autonomous agencies. Senior personnel in this system outlasted presidents and over time entrenched their position alongside immense power. They acquired the ability to limit political pressure on them when the president or Congress were under pressure. This system of an alternative structure to execute government and presidential policies created a system that could not be readily controlled. The administrative state and its appointees remain in their position for their whole career whilst the President, State and Congress have regular elections and are not in power permanently. This is the vital difference that gives rise to the deep state and its power.
American Primacy
Since the US emerged as the global superpower after WW2 the administrative state, which is the deep state, has worked to establish and maintain America’s global empire. The American deep state’s ultimate agenda has always been and will remain in perpetuating the US global empire. The deep state has ensured since WW2 no outsider has been able to get to power to alter this.
Many consider the assassination of John F. Kennedy was due to him trying to alter the entrenchment of the deep state and his attempts to reduce the size of America’s military capabilities, especially nuclear weapons. This is what many consider happens to someone who is an outsider and has an independent agenda.
The American deep state’s ultimate agenda has always been and will remain in perpetuating the US global empire
Trump: The Unwanted President
In the case of Donald Trump, who had never held office and had no political experience or history, the Republican party didn’t take him seriously when he announced he was running for office in 2015. Trump managed to defeat all the Republican heavyweights and gain the ticket for the Republican party and then proceeded to defeat Hilary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. He achieved this despite the Republicans initially not taking him seriously,[3] then trying to marginalise him. When he won the Republican party ticket, many Republican heavy weights called for Republican voters to vote for Hillary Clinton.[4]
Donald Trump forced himself upon the deep state and American political establishment. They did not want him, but in the end they were unable to stop him. The deep state proceeded to co-opt Trump and surrounded him with former military men and former officials who ensured no independent agenda was followed by him. After just two months of Trump’s presidency in 2020, after a number of sackings and rotations the Trump administration was purely made up of “establishment insiders.” The man who had promoted himself as an “outsider,” ended up working with nothing but conventional “establishment insiders” in the critical positions in his government.
In the end, the deep state controlled any possibility of Trump pursuing an independent agenda by ensuring his cabinet consisted of “their people”, establishment politicians and civil servants. They ensured they limited the damage the “unwanted president” could do to the objectives, policies and plans of America, in the areas that are of critical importance to the deep state.
In the end, the deep state controlled any possibility of Trump pursuing an independent agenda by ensuring his cabinet consisted of “their people”, establishment politicians and civil servants
In 2018 a high-ranking civil servant wrote an article for the New York Times and explained how he and his colleagues worked to prevent President Trump from having any influence over policy decisions. “We are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t…” he said. In 2020 the author was revealed to have been Miles Taylor, the chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security.[5] In 2020 another leading civil servant, Jim Jeffrey, revealed that he and his fellow diplomats regularly lied to Trump to prevent him from influencing policy decisions [6]
Donald Trump during his term never took on the deep state and continued with much of America’s strategic policies and even made changes that the deep state had for long wanted, such as starting a trade war with China.
The deep state in the US also includes some very large and powerful organisations like the FBI and CIA as well as the NSA that have many powers that give them immense advantages over others. In the digital age they surveil and oppose the policies of elected officials. In the case of the US the deep state describes parts of the government or forces that interact with governments that are not elected and are beyond the conventional checks and balances of the American system.
The deep state is not unique to the US. It does exist in other nations, but it does differ from nation to nation and is influenced by many factors such as a nation’s history, economic reality and political development. To highlight some examples:
Russia – When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 an array of factions fought for control over the country. There was Boris Yeltsin and his cronies. There were the oligarchs who through corruption and the crises in the 1990s acquired Russia’s industrial, energy and economic assets. The military, KGB and national security structure saw their budgets cut and, in an attempt, to stop them from doing a coup against Yeltsin, he split the KGB in multiple organisations in order to weaken them. Boris Yeltsin eventually came to rely on Vladimir Putin who was a former KGB officer, who left and joined politics and became Prime Minister as Yeltsin trusted him.
When Yeltsin stepped down in 1999, Putin took over and he brought his colleague and supporters into the state. Today Putin appoints loyalists to positions in the state. Putin himself is from the security class and they are the deep state in Russia. This faction runs the state security, police, the investigative committee (Russia’s FBI) and numerous other agencies, such as the National Guard. They also live by their own rules, rules not afforded to other Russians. This is how Russia is run by the deep state, which Putin is part of.
UK – The UK like much of Europe was historically dominated by dynastic families, who expanded their power and control by dominating over others and when they had enough land, they would claim special status and thus become the monarchy. To maintain loyalty, they would give privileges and land to their supporters, and this created the aristocracy in England and across Europe. The aristocracy would compete with the monarchy over time as they wanted more power and would compete for power with the monarchy. This led to the emergence of parliament, which was dominated by these aristocrats. As time progressed more and more powers went to parliament and the monarchy became just a figurehead. The monarchy however still maintains their privileges in the UK today. With industrialisation the structure of England changed, and merchants and the large corporations came to compete with the aristocracy. In the modern day billionaires donate to political parties and fund individual politicians to protect their interests. The UK therefore does not have a deep state but has a small elite who due to wealth and influence are able to have the elected politicians serve their interests.
The UK therefore does not have a deep state but has a small elite who due to wealth and influence are able to have the elected politicians serve their interests
Türkiye – When the Ottomans Caliphate was dismembered after 1924, Mustafah Kemal was able to position himself to dominate the country. He established a cult personality to dominate Türkiye’s political system. His rule did not improve the situation of Türkiye and after his death his supporters and his party struggled to rule effectively leading to other politicians to emerge. The military maintained Kemal’s secular ideas and became the real rulers, who ruled behind the scenes despite elections. They moved each time the red line of secularism was going to be crossed, when a non-secular or Islamic minded politicians or party emerged. Despite this deep state they did not improve the economic or living standards of the people.
When Erdogan emerged in the 1990s he used economic policies, support from the US and success in elections to challenge the deep states position by altering the constitution and making changes that would weaken the deep states hold on Türkiye. The support for Erdogan by the people and his success with the economy made him much stronger in dealing with the deep state. Erdogan used the legal system to accuse senior generals of plotting against the government and this led to their court marshals and long court cases. After the coup attempt in 2016 Erdogan purged the army and brought his supporters into key positions in the military. This effectively ended the deep state and power shifted to Erdogan who dominates the country today. In the case of Türkiye, the deep state had disappeared as it was replaced by Erdogan who rules openly and directly over Türkiye.
Pakistan – Pakistan soon after its emergence came under the domination of the US and this was by the US winning the loyalty of the army generals through providing loans, military aid and equipment during the Cold War. Ever since the military leadership has remained loyal to the US and protected US interests. The military’s position has allowed them to dominate the politics of the country and they support politicians to power and remove them when needed. In Pakistan, the military are the real rulers, an open fact and is known by the people. The military top brass is not hidden and therefore there is no deep state in Pakistan. The military top brass are the elites, and they organise the politicians, elections and the political parties in the country.
China – The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the political party in China who emerged to dominate China after WW2. Unlike other nations the communist party is also the state. Therefore, the government, state and all institutions are within the CCP. The military serves the CCP rather than the people. China does not have elections, but has transfers of power, which is all within the communist party. The history of China has been one of numerous dynastic rulers and the communist party is just the latest dynasty to rule over China. In China there is no deep state, but one party that rules over China and with its party members being appointed to ruling and key positions in the country.
The existence of the deep state and its emergence in nations depends on several factors. The deep state can exist in the ideological nations and the dependent nations. In the dependent nations they are usually created by the global powers, whilst in the powerful nations, where there are deep states this is based on the history of the nation and how political power evolved. In the case of the US the deep state emerged from within the institutions of the country and are able to restrict the policies of the president as their power comes from the fact that they are there to implement policies.
[1] How Far Will Turkey : The New Yorker
[2] Public Troubled by ‘Deep State,’ Monmouth Poll reports, https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_031918/
[3] How Donald Trump Evolved From a Joke to an Almost Serious Candidate | The New Republic
[4] US election 2016: Republican divisions grow over Trump – BBC News
[5] Opinion | I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration – The New York Times
[6] Outgoing Syria Envoy Admits Hiding US Troop Numbers; Praises Trump’s Mideast Record – Defense One