(2017-02-20) There Is No American Deep State

There Is No American 'Deep State'

While there are various examples of activity that has been labeled as originating from a “deep state,” from Latin America to Egypt, the most prominent example is Turkey.

These superficial similarities threaten to overshadow some of the deeper differences, though.

It’s all well and good to argue that there are similarities between the Turkish deep state and American resistance to Trump

Omer Taspinar, who teaches at the National Defense University, took a similar position. “The Deep State was a kind of criminal organization,” he said. “It was not the judiciary, the civil society, the media, or the bureaucrats trying to engage in checks and balances against a legitimately elected government. What we’re witnessing in the U.S., it’s basically the institutional channels.”

The Turkish deep state, historically, was willing to use violence to achieve its ends, and held close ties to organized crime.

The fact that the deep state in Turkey was known for lawlessness and criminality meant that it was disliked by a wide range of factions there

*Erdogan learned to use the idea of deep state as a cudgel against it.

“It became such common currency that it allowed Erdogan's AKP government to cripple Turkey's democratic checks and balances*

The trials effectively crippled the military, even though they were based largely on flimsy evidence

The army had removed prime ministers who got too ambitious in the past, but they were no longer in a position to do so. (The failed coup in July 2016 further affirmed just how weakened the military was.)