What is the American Deep State against which BJP made serious allegations?
The Bharatiya Janata Party recently accused the US State Department and “deep state” elements in Washington of trying to destabilize India. The BJP also accused a group of investigative journalists and the opposition Congress party of collaborating with the US deep state to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The allegations were surprising because the two countries have done much to boost political, economic and defence ties in recent years. The question that arises is what is the US deep state and will it weaken with Donald Trump coming to power?
The term Deep State became popular in the 1990s, during the first term of President Donald Trump. The Deep State was particularly implicated in several serious allegations of Russian interference in the US election. Trump himself blamed the ‘Deep State’ for this. According to a US political conspiracy theory, the Deep State is a secret network of members of the federal government (particularly within the FBI and CIA) who work together with high-level financial and industrial institutions and politicians to exercise power with or within the elected United States government.
How did the term Deep State originate?
The term Deep State originated in the 1990s in reference to the alleged long-standing Deep State in Turkey, but it also began to be used for the US government during the Obama administration. Opinion polls conducted in 2017 and 2018 show that nearly half of Americans believe in the existence of a Deep State in the country.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, a former official in the Ronald Reagan administration, wrote on his website that the Deep State is “deeply rooted and institutionalized” within the US government, with numerous ways to manipulate or obstruct the president’s efforts.
Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel highlighted the role of Deep State operatives within the FBI, DOJ, and other federal agencies in covering up illegal activities by the US government. He described how informants are often ignored or silenced and how evidence that could harm the country’s interests disappears.
American peace activist John R. Weinberg described the Deep State as being run by powerful defense contractors. He even claimed that those involved in the military and arms trade in the country have more power than the president. The Deep State also ensures that American politics remain unchanged.
What Putin said about the American Deep State
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson in February 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the Deep State while talking about the challenges in negotiating with the American leadership. “I have already spoken to three American presidents,” Putin told French journalists in May 2017. “American presidents come and go, but politics remains the same. I don’t know why? Because of the powerful bureaucracy. When a person is elected, he may have some ideas. Then people come to meet him with briefcases. Well-dressed, in dark suits… these people explain to the president what to do.” Putin added, “We are ready to talk. But with whom? What are the guarantees? There are no guarantees.”
Deep State Just Means Money
The mysterious entity known as the Deep State, its structure, or its specific decision-makers, is challenging to define. Lily Ferriol Pratt, a project/research assistant at the BRICS Research Institute at Durban University of Technology, South Africa, defines the Deep State as “essentially a philosophy in which a few benefit at the expense of the majority, expressed in a variety of ways.” She traces its origins to the establishment of the US Federal Reserve System, which was given the power to print money. The Deep State, in conjunction with the government, makes a lot of money and spends some of it to benefit corporations, which the government cannot legally do.
