Popular Use
The transition from one political regime to another, esp 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.
Read more about this topic: Regime Change
Famous quotes containing the word popular:
“And all the popular statesmen say
That purity built up the State
And after kept it from decay;
Admonish us to cling to that
And let all base ambition be,
For intellect would make us proud....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“It is clear that in a monarchy, where he who commands the exceution of the laws generally thinks himself above them, there is less need of virtue than in a popular government, where the person entrusted with the execution of the laws is sensible of his being subject to their direction.”
—Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu (1689–1755)