Deep state, as popularly understood, is a secret and unauthorized network of power, operating independently of a state’s political leadership, and in pursuit of its own agenda and goals. Many national leaders have invoked fears of the deep state to spread misinformation and/ or elicit sympathy. Donald Trump has done it often; in 2017, Trump patronised a website 4chan, which promoted the idea that Trump was waging a secret war against a cabal of satanic cannibalistic paedophiles within Hollywood, the Democratic Party, and the so-called ‘deep state’ within the United States government.

This theory, expanding in content and geographic reach, resulted in several protests, as well as some violent criminal incidents. Trump, as President, used the term deep state, to denounce whistle-blowers and leakers from the US intelligence community. Addressing an election rally in March 2023, Trump said: “Either the deep state destroys America or we destroy the deep state.” One of Trump’s electioneve promises is to “dismantle the deep state” by stripping thousands of federal employees of their civil service protections, allowing them to be fired at will. In UK, the Civil Service has been called the deep state, pursuing its own policies, regardless of the Government.

Tony Blair, former PM reportedly said: “You cannot underestimate how much they believe it’s their job to actually run the country and to resist the changes put forward by people they dismiss as ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ politicians.” For Pakistan, the deep state is the army which calls the shots in all important matters, including starting a war in Kargil, without informing the civilian leadership. Other countries, like Turkey, where the term ‘deep state’ originated, have differing definitions of the term. Rahul Gandhi, speaking at the Ideas for India Conference in UK, posited that the deep state, in partnership with the CBI and ED were intent on ‘chewing’ the Indian state. During the recent elections social media liberally blamed the ‘deep state’ for a number of fiascos.

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It is fashionable to blame the deep state for inexplicable instances of disturbances, violence and even murders, authorship of which cannot be attributed to any of the usual suspects. Thus, after the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, Pakistan President Asif Zardari was quick to lay the blame on ‘non-State’ actors, though later it was conclusively proved that the cowardly attack........

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