What an actual 'deep state' looks like
By Ishaan Tharoor March 7 at 1:00 AM
Key figures in the White House see themselves locked in a battle with the "deep state" — a term they're using, as my colleagues explained, to describe "a group of Obama-aligned critics, federal bureaucrats and intelligence figures" as well as the media. Stephen K. Bannon, the White House chief strategist who once ran far-right publication Breitbart, has reportedly spoken "at length" with President Trump about his view that the "deep state" is undermining Trump's presidency.
The consequences of such paranoia can be seen in Trump's Twitter outburst over the weekend. He accused his predecessor of tapping his phones (without offering any evidence) and framed his administration as the victim of "witch hunts" and "McCarthyism." On Monday, reports emerged that FBI Director James B. Comey was "incredulous" over Trump's allegations.
Link to tweet
But the "deep state" in its more well-established contexts is something more concrete. The term is most closely associated with the turbulent politics of Turkey, a country whose democracy was for decades routinely interrupted by cabals in the military and civil bureaucracy. To this day, the suspected machinations of the deep state — secretive conspiracies hatched in the corridors of power and removed from the democratic process — shadow the nation's politics.
The concept of the "deep state" also resonates strongly in countries where the military is vast and difficult to check. Think of Egypt, where an army-led putsch ousted an elected Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013; or Pakistan, where the military and its powerful intelligence arm remain the most influential actors within the state.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/07/what-an-actual-deep-state-looks-like/?utm_term=.b10738c50798