puppet state

Also known as puppet government, puppet regime, mendicant foreign policy, mendicant diplomacy, dependent foreign policy, diplomatic mendicancy

state that is supposedly independent but is in fact dependent upon an outside power

AI overview

A puppet state is a country that appears to be independent but is actually controlled by a more powerful outside nation that pulls the strings behind the scenes. This matters because it means the puppet state's government serves the interests of the foreign power rather than its own people, even though it maintains the appearance of self-rule.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.