Satellite state

Satellite state or client state is a political term that refers to a country which is formally independent but which is primarily subject to the domination of another, larger power. The term has been coined by analogy to stellar objects orbiting a larger object, such as planets revolving around the sun, and was initially used to refer to Central and Eastern European countries of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. It implied that the countries in question were "satellites" under the hegemony of the Soviet Union. Other countries in the Soviet sphere of influence during the Cold War - such as North Korea (especially in the decades surrounding the Korean War) and Fidel Castro's Cuba (particularly after joining the Comecon) - were often labelled satellite states.

The term is sometimes used more loosely (and with a less sinister overtone) to refer to small countries whose foreign policy is aligned with a larger power: the so-called Anglosphere is a good example.

Relationship to "puppet state"

The term "satellite state" is often seen as close in meaning, or even synonymous, with other terms such as "puppet state", which typically have a much more pejorative connotation. However, the precise relationship between the two terms is not always clear; in many instances the practical meaning of the two cannot be distinguished.

The phrase "puppet state" is used frequently to connote the dependence of small nations on a larger power, especially implying that without necessary support of the larger power the "puppet state" would simply collapse. It was thus a reciprocal effect of the Cold War that the United States and Soviet Union were said to hold many "puppets" - countries with US-supported anti-communist and authoritarian governments such as South Korea and Taiwan. Similarly, Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and support of Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam during the cold war also exlemplified this type of relationship, as well as other contemporary great powers such as Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and many long-gone empires are sometimes said to have acquired or ruled satellites, but terms such as "puppet states" are also commonly found.

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Relationship to "puppet state"

See also