The political firestorm over an alleged transnational “deep state” — comprising the investigative journalist network, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Open Society Foundations (OSF) of the billionaire financier George Soros, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the government of the United States (US) — to “destabilize India” has brought crucial questions to the fore.
What exactly is a deep state? Is it a conspiracy theory or a real entity? And if it does exist, what are its effects domestically within the US and worldwide? For several decades, the term deep state has ricocheted in American politics to refer to a shadowy hybrid network of governmental, corporate, and non-governmental elites who wield enormous power, control policymaking levers, undermine elected politicians, and thwart the interests of the American people.
The famous farewell address of President Dwight Eisenhower in 1961, where he warned about “the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the military-industrial complex” that could “endanger our liberties or democratic processes”, was the first high-level acknowledgment of an unholy nexus. of vested interest groups which was siphoning wealth and pushing excessive defense expenditures during the Cold War.
Although Eisenhower was a Republican, the notion that a coterie of military officials, unelected bureaucrats, armament manufacturers, hawkish lobbyists, and journalists who justified endless wars and confrontations with foreign enemies was secretly manipulating American domestic and foreign policies gained popularity in the Left-liberal segments in the US. During the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) under President George W Bush, the anti-war and peace movements in the US frequently decried the deep state and the “surveillance state” for dragging America into costly foreign conflicts on false pretexts and illegally curtailing civil liberties at home.
With the political rise of Donald Trump and his unique brand of populism, the specter of a deep state also became a bugbear in right-wing circles. According to Trump, a vast association of career civil servants, diplomats, intelligence agencies, law enforcement officials, contractors, “fake news” media outlets and mainstream intellectuals acted in concert to delegitimise him, undermine his domestic and foreign policy priorities during his first term. as president (2017 to 2020), and wreck his re-election. Trump’s crusade against special interests and undemocratic forces reached an apogee after the 2024 US election, with the President-elect announcing a new department of government efficiency (DOGE) to “drain the swamp”. Like Eisenhower, Trump felt frustrated by the factions and blocs within the vast American “permanent state” and its network of allies in the private sector, which resisted and blocked his agenda.
Given that at least two American presidents have publicly derided a nefarious “State within a State”, the idea of a deep state in the US is not entirely imaginary. The persistently low levels of public trust and confidence in the government in the US also make this concept credulous. The deep state is, of course, fuzzy due to its informal basis and it varies over time in ideological leanings and intent. At least in the domestic arena in the US, both Leftists and Rightists have felt victimized by the deep state and its shenanigans.
In foreign policy, regardless of whether the incumbent US administration was Democratic or Republican, a pro-liberal internationalist worldview has historically held sway in Washington. This meant that apart from hardcore economic, military and geopolitical interests, the US government also selectively pursued controversial objectives such as the promotion of democracy, human rights, and liberal values in certain countries and regions. The coups of statecovert interventions, regime change operations, and softer democracy promotion projects in which the US has been involved, are open secrets. Stephen Kinzer’s book, overthrowchronicled a “century of regime change” missions carried out by the US on multiple continents.
After the “colour revolutions” in Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004) and Kyrgyzstan (2005), the usage of non-governmental think tanks, civil society organizations and pliant news media outlets to create conditions for US government-desired political changes was highlighted. If a US-funded NGO or a think tank takes the lead in sapping a regime in a particular country, the logic behind it is of plausible deniability by the US government as its officials are not directly involved.
This sordid track record of meddling does not mean there is always a hidden American deep state conspiracy in every country where protest movements break out or revolts happen. Nor is it the case that US covert operations are always decisive in dislodging a regime, which might have feet of clay due to its own acts of omission and commission.
Still, due to its cryptic and obscure nature and the vast sums of money it commands, the US deep state is the usual suspect whenever something goes awry. Speculation about American sabotage is rife not only in authoritarian countries but also in democracies across the Global South.
While the accusations against OCCRP and OSF for carrying out an orchestrated anti-India smear campaign are subject to investigation, the interlinked web of connections among the US State apparatus and its extended private arms is an undeniable fact.
Under the Joe Biden administration, which represented the traditional liberal internationalist ideology, coordination between segments of the US government machinery and their non-governmental allies such as Soros was visible and obvious.
India might find relief from this nexus once Trump, the antithesis of liberalism, returns to the White House. With the next American president himself declaring all-out war against the deep state, a longstanding irritant in the India-US strategic partnership could ease, at least for a while.
Sreeram Chaulia is the author of Friends: India’s Closest Strategic Partners.The views expressed are personal
