Puppet State (Noun)
Meaning
A government that is appointed by and whose affairs are directed by an outside authority that may impose hardships on those governed.
Classification
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects.
Examples
- The occupied country was turned into a puppet state by the invading power, forced to adopt laws and policies that served the interests of its new rulers.
- After the coup, the nation became a puppet state of its more powerful neighbor, losing control over its economy and foreign policy.
- Critics argue that the regime has been reduced to a puppet state, doing the bidding of international organizations and ignoring the needs of its own people.
- Historians consider the territory to have been a puppet state of the colonial power, subject to its economic exploitation and cultural domination.
- Many see the new government as a puppet state, beholden to the foreign powers that supported its rise to power and imposed austerity measures on its citizens.