Regime change is when a foreign power covertly or overtly interferes with the government of another country with the goal of removing the regime and replacing it with a different one. The United States has pursued regime change policies for decades, starting with helping overthrow Iran’s Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953 and ending with the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in 1961. Proponents of regime change argue that it is cheaper, quicker, and more effective than a broader foreign policy that promotes democracy and human rights around the world. However, such efforts have severe costs in the long run. When American policies become associated with regime change, they make foreign actors wary of America and reduce the effectiveness of other tools of statecraft that advance US interests and the global liberal order.
The best example of the negative consequences of regime change is the case of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Although US forces formally removed him, the oligarchy that backed his regime remained in place and has continued to dominate the country.
The next time someone advocates for regime change, they should consider the evidence from the last two decades. After the overthrow of Serbian autocrat Slobodan Milosevic in 1995 and of Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan in the following years (the so-called “color revolutions”), the countries are now ruled by nationalists that are far more close to Moscow than to the West. Furthermore, the removal of these governments has had little effect on promoting human rights or democracy in the region and has led to Russia gaining influence throughout the area.
