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Client state is one of several terms used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs. It is the least specific of these terms and may be treated as a broad category which includes satellite state, puppet state, neo-colony, protectorate, vassal state and tributary state. (See also unequal treaty.) The idea that there might be a hierarchy of states, some more or less dependent on others, contradicts the doctrine of Westphalian sovereignty which holds that each state is a distinct, separate and sovereign entity.

Client states have existed for millennia as stronger powers made subservient those around them as they grew. In ancient times states such as Persia and Greek city-states would create client states by making the personal leaders of that state subservient. One of the most prolific users of client states was Republican Rome which, instead of conquering and then absorbing into an empire, chose to make client states out of those it defeated, a policy which was continued up until the 1st century BC when imperial power took over. The use of client states continued through the Middle Ages as the feudal system began to take hold.

More commonly the terms were applied to nations ruled by dictatorships backed openly by either the United States or the Soviet Union. In the case of the United States during the Cold War many Latin American nations such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua prior to 1979, Cuba prior to 1959, and Chile under the regime of General Pinochet were seen as U.S. client states since the U.S. government had significant influence over the policies of those dictatorships. The term applied to other authoritarian regimes with close ties to the United States, more appropriately referred to as U.S. proxy states during the Cold War such as South Vietnam, Iran prior to 1979, Cambodia under the regime of Lon Nol, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia among others.

Soviet proxy or "client" states included much of the Warsaw Pact nations whose policies were heavily influenced by Soviet military power and economic aid. Other third world nation's with Marxist-Leninist governments were routinely criticized as being Soviet proxies as well, among them Cuba following the Cuban Revolution, People's Republic of Angola, People's Republic of Mozambique, People's Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Vietnam (A.K.A. North Vietnam), amongst others.

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