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Regime change is a euphemism for the forcible overthrow of a government (or regime) considered illegitimate by a foreign authority, and its replacement with a new government conformed to the ideas and/or interests promoted by that foreign authority.

In contrast to a revolution or a coup d'état, regime change happens as the result of an external force; i.e., as a result of outside intervention by another nation-state. Regime change may or may not replace the whole administrative apparatus, existing bureaucracy and/or other regime remnants.

It can be argued that the idea of overthrowing a government from the outside and replacing it with a new one built "from scratch" traces back to the Potsdam Agreement, which suggested post-World War II designs for Germany but became largely irrelevant for the era of the Cold War.[1]

While advocates argue the underlying concept of legitimacy would successfully override national sovereignty, critics consider the term a euphemism for a violation of international law (regime change is not a permissible just cause of war in the classical just war theory). It was popularised by President of the United States George W. Bush, in reference to Saddam Hussein's regime. The fact that the term itself was not coined until the early 2000s notwithstanding, examples of the policy itself being championed in the United States can be found earlier, as in its advocacy by General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War, leading to his dismissal by President Harry Truman. Later, in the Vietnam War, many conservatives, such as Barry Goldwater, also supported the concept, denouncing President Lyndon Johnson's goal of merely saving South Vietnam from being taken over by the Communist North as a "no-win" policy. The American-backed overthrow of the Maurice Bishop government in Grenada in 1983 can also be viewed in the same light.

Regime change in Iraq became a stated goal of United States foreign policy when Public Law 105-338 (the "Iraq Liberation Act") was signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton. The act directed that:

"It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime."

This regime change was later brought about by George W. Bush during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some of Bush's critics turned the phrase against him. Among theme were United States Senator John Kerry, calling for "regime change" in the United States, the International Action Center, and the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, which declared "We need a regime change HERE!"

The term 'regime change' can also be used in a more general sense, particularly in academic work, to refer to a change in political institutions or laws that affect the nature of the system as a whole. For example, the end of the Bretton Woods system was a regime change in the international system, as was the repeal of the National Mandatory Speed Limit in the United States. Regime changes are often viewed as ideal opportunities for natural experiments by social scientists.

• Encarta Dictionary
• Word Spy: Regime Change

• CIA sponsored regime change