Regime change

Regime change is the replacement of one government regime with another. Use of the term dates to at least 1925. Regime change may replace all or part of the state's most critical leadership system, administrative apparatus, or bureaucracy.

It can be the deliberate product of outside force, as in warfare. Rollback is the military strategy to impose a regime change by defeating an enemy and removing its regime by force. Regime change can occur through inside change caused by revolution, coup d'état or reconstruction following the failure of a state. It can also happen in democratic elections, most recently in the United States in 2016.

The transition from one political regime to another, especially through concerted political or military action - most recently seen in the regime change undergone by Tunisia.

The term has been popularized by recent US presidents. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush regularly used the term in reference to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Ronald Reagan had previously called for regime change in Libya, directing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to work towards that goal.

The term regime change is sometimes erroneously used to describe a change in the government of the day.

The term regime change can also be applied to bodies other than nation states.

Regime change can be precipitated by revolution or a coup d'état. The Russian Revolution, the 1962 Burmese coup and the 1990 collapse of communism in Eastern Europe (→ #Dissolution of the Eastern Bloc) are consummate examples.

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