There are certain words and terms to describe specific political events that are all too common. But what do they really mean?.


When political leaders use a set of words to describe events they can actually have two meanings? And why do leaders use one set of terms one day and then others another day when describing in what are the same incidents?
This is an English language thing either. Russian, Chinese and Arabic..it does not matter where you are it all depends how you say it.
Here are ten political terms and what they really mean and when to use them.


Restraint
The use of restraint is a great get out clause for most political leaders. If we are helping to prop up a regime and then that dictator goes a little crazy and starts butchering his own people then we can use the word ‘restraint’ to describe that we are a little annoyed but we don’t want him to make too much of a mess. The use of ‘restraint’ on both sides means..we don’t really want to get involved in the argument in case people think we are taking siding. But either way we must ensure there are…
Democratic freedoms
Democracy and freedoms are entwined. In essence one should encourage democracy until it is the type of democracy that we do not like. If for any reason we have a democratically elected state that does not agree with us then we need to uproot it and install a…
Puppet Regime
The terms puppet regime can be used to describe a country where the leader has been installed by a more powerful neighbour or country. However, we cannot use the term if it is we who have installed the leader. At this point the leader, no matter who he or she is becomes a ‘democratically elected leader’. If this leader is uprooted then this is a complete…
Violation of international law
The great thing about international law is that we can pick and choose what part matters and what part doesn’t. Does international law only come into effect when something that is strategically important to us is invaded? It seems so. International law does not matter to those nations or minorities where we are in fact the ones breaking the law. As a superpower the international law conundrum is simple – you invade a country and make up the law as you go along.  International law means you should have basic….
Human rights
It is important to have different descriptions of torture and abuse for yourself and for everyone else. This stands you apart from ‘them’ when it comes to human rights. Problems occur when we are backing nations who’s humans rights records are worse than the countries we are criticising. The golden rule is - do not ever point the finger of blame at a good customer. In any case it might be an idea to threaten…
The use of sanctions
We can always use sanctions against those countries that go rogue on us. But it is more than likely that if we impose sanctions, another country will take over and sell the stuff we won’t..publicly anyway. The use of sanctions is something one should state early on in the argument. It means we don’t agree with you and we trying to make sure you are excluded from the…
International Community
A term so vague it can mean almost anything. For instance is the ‘international community’ everyone or just certain states that agree with what we are saying. This week the International community was very angry that Russia held a referendum on the Crimea. Did the Chinese who make up a six of the planet make a huge fuss too? What about the African states? Either way we must not talk of the...

 

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Insurgents
A term used to describe someone we are fighting. One only becomes a rebel when we he is fighting the other superpower. For example, in Russia, it is likely your insurgent will be best described as a rebel. It all depends on exactly who the insurgent is a fighting a war against. A rebel fighter sounds too heroic and the use of the term should be avoided at all costs. If the insurgency becomes a little too active then there might be a….
Coup
The word coup or anything suggesting this cannot be used when it is we who have helped to stage the coup. Then it is important to talk only of a revolution. Whilst it might be blatantly obvious this was a ‘military coup’ then we must still use the term revolution to ensure we get our team calling the shots. A revolution sounds so much more romantic unless of course it is a Islamic Revolution. At that point we would like to see a change in…
Regime
At what point is a government a regime? Hard to tell. But a regime is essentially a form of government – one that does not agree with the ideals we set forth. Importantly we can class some organisations of control as regimes or dictatorships unless it has people in charge who we want to play ball with. At that point the regime should be termed as a government.  A government which is under attack from…
Terrorism
The most over-used word in the world. Ever since the first civilisations the use of the word ‘terrorism’ has helped to bring a change of government. The secret is, to use the term at regular intervals to describe anyone who might be fighting against your cause. It is also important to turn a blind eye to other forms of terrorism unless it is affecting your strategic aims in the world. Every major superpower nation will be the victim of terrorism at some stage and will use it to ensure that aims are met.