Giving up of allegiance to one state for allegiance to another
In
politics
, a
defector
is a person who gives up
allegiance
to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state.
[1]
More broadly,
defection
involves abandoning a person, cause, or doctrine to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.
[2]
[3]
This term is also applied, often pejoratively, to anyone who switches loyalty to another
religion
,
sports team
,
political party
, or other rival faction. In that sense, the defector is often considered a
traitor
by their original side.
[4]
[5]
International politics
[
edit
]
The physical act of defection is usually in a manner which violates the laws of the nation or political entity from which the person is seeking to depart. By contrast, mere changes in
citizenship
, or working with allied militia, usually do not violate any law(s).
For example, in the 1950s,
East Germans
were increasingly prohibited from traveling to the western
Federal Republic of Germany
where they were automatically regarded as citizens according to
Exclusive mandate
. The
Berlin Wall
(1961) and fortifications along the
Inner German border
(1952 onward) were erected by the Communist
German Democratic Republic
to enforce the policy. When people tried to "defect" from the GDR they were to be shot on sight. Several hundred people
were killed along that border
in their
Republikflucht
attempt. Official crossings did exist, but permissions to leave temporarily or permanently were seldom granted. On the other hand, the GDR citizenship of some "inconvenient" East Germans was revoked, and they had to leave their home on short notice against their will. Others, like singer
Wolf Biermann
, were prohibited from returning to the GDR.
During the
Cold War
, the many people illegally emigrating from the
Soviet Union
or
Eastern Bloc
to
the West
were called defectors. Westerners defected to the Eastern Bloc as well, often to avoid prosecution as spies. Some of the more famous cases were British spy
Kim Philby
, who defected to the USSR to avoid exposure as a
KGB
mole, and
22 Allied POWs
(one Briton and twenty-one Americans) who declined repatriation after the
Korean War
, electing to remain in China.
When the individual leaves his country and provides information to a foreign intelligence service, they are a
HUMINT source defector
. In some cases, defectors remain in the country or with the political entity they were against, functioning as a
defector in place
. Intelligence services are always concerned when debriefing defectors with the possibility of a
fake defection
.
Entire militaries can defect and choose not to follow orders from a state's leaders. During the
Arab Spring
protests, militaries in Egypt and Tunisia refused orders to fire upon protesters or use other methods to disperse them.
[6]
[7]
The decision to defect can be driven by the desire to prevent insubordination: if a military leader judges that lower officers will disobey orders to fire upon protesters, they could be more likely to defect.
[6]
Notable defectors
[
edit
]
Artists
[
edit
]
- Paquito D'Rivera
, Cuban saxophonist and clarinetist, who defected to the United States in 1980.
- Mikhail Baryshnikov
,
Soviet
(Russian) dancer, who defected to
Canada
in 1974, while in
Toronto
, touring with the
Kirov Ballet
.
[8]
He later moved to the
United States
.
- Natalia Makarova
, Soviet (Russian) dancer, who defected while in London in 1970.
- Georgi Markov
, Bulgarian author, who defected in 1968, eventually settling in London, England, later assassinated.
- Rudolf Nureyev
, Soviet (Russian) dancer, who defected while in
Paris
touring with the
Kirov Ballet
in 1961.
[9]
- George Balanchine
, Georgian
choreographer
, who defected to the
Weimar Republic
in 1924.
- Arturo Sandoval
, Cuban trumpeter, pianist, and composer, who defected to the United States in 1990.
- Jan Sobota
, Czech fine bookbinder, who defected to Switzerland in 1982, and settled in the United States in 1984.
Athletes
[
edit
]
- Guillermo Rigondeaux
, Cuban
professional boxer
, who defected to the United States in 2009.
- Aroldis Chapman
, Cuban
baseball pitcher
, who defected to Andorra in 2009 before signing a
Major League Baseball
contract in 2010.
- Jose Fernandez
, Cuban
baseball player
, who defected to the United States in 2008.
- Lutz Eigendorf
, an East German
football player
for
BFC Dynamo
who defected to
West Germany
in 1979.
- Orlando Hernandez
, Cuban
baseball pitcher
, who defected to the United States in 1997.
- Nadia Com?neci
, Romanian Olympic gymnast, who defected to the United States in 1989.
- Martina Navratilova
, Czechoslovak tennis player, who defected to the United States in 1975.
[10]
- Alexander Mogilny
, Soviet (Russian)
ice hockey
forward, who defected to the United States in 1988. He was the first Soviet player to defect to play in the
NHL
.
- Bela Karolyi
and his wife
Marta Karolyi
,
Romanian
gymnastics
coaches (of
Nadia Com?neci
and
Mary Lou Retton
among others), who defected to the United States in 1981.
- Osvaldo Alonso
, Cuban
soccer player
, who defected to the United States in 2007.
- Jose Abreu
, Cuban baseball player, who defected to the United States in 2013.
- Kimia Alizadeh
, Iranian
taekwondo martial artist
, who defected to the Netherlands in 2020.
- Cesar Prieto
, Cuban baseball player, who defected to the United States in 2021.
- Krystsina Tsimanouskaya
, Belarus sprinter, who defected to Poland in 2021.
[11]
Military
[
edit
]
- Larry Allen Abshier
, the first of six American soldiers to defect to North Korea between the years 1962?1982. He died in 1983 from a heart attack while residing in
Pyongyang
.
- Benedict Arnold
? a colonial general who during the
American Revolutionary War
defected to the
British Army
.
- Riad al-Asaad
, founder of the
Free Syrian Army
and the entire Tlass Family during the
Syrian civil war
.
- Viktor Belenko
, a
Soviet Air Force
lieutenant who flew a MiG-25 fighter to Japan in 1976 and gained
political asylum
in the United States.
[12]
- James Joseph Dresnok
, a
US Army
private who defected to
North Korea
by sneaking across the Demilitarized Zone in 1962. He would live the remainder of his life in the DPRK until his death in 2016.
- Igor Gouzenko
, a Soviet
cipher
clerk who defected to Canada and released information regarding Soviet espionage activities in western society. Credited as one of the triggering factors for the beginning of the Cold War.
- No Kum-Sok
(later Kenneth Rowe) is known for having been a
lieutenant
in the
North Korean Air Force
during the
Korean War
who defected to
South Korea
. On September 21, 1953, he flew his
MiG-15
to the
Kimpo Air Base
in South Korea, claiming that he wanted to get away from the "red deceit" and is often associated with
Operation Moolah
.
[13]
- Maxim Kuzminov
[
ru
]
, former Russian military pilot-navigator of the Mi-8AMTSh military transport helicopter. During the Russian-Ukrainian War, on August 9, 2023, he flew across the front line to the Ukrainian side as part of the special
Operation Synytsia
, prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
[14]
- Genrikh Lyushkov
, the
NKVD
chief in the
Russian Far East
, defected to
Manchukuo
in 1938 under the
Great Purge
and then cooperated with the
Imperial Japanese Army
.
- Ivan Mazepa
,
Ukrainian
Hetman of Zaporizhian Host
from 1687?1708 who defected from the
Russian Empire
to the
Swedish Empire
during the
Battle of Poltava
of the
Great Northern War
.
- Lee Harvey Oswald
, the later
assassin of President John F. Kennedy
had claimed defection to the
Soviet Union
in October 1959 but was ultimately refused citizenship and returned to the United States in 1962.
- Ion Mihai Pacepa
, a
Romanian
Securitate
general who defected to the United States from the
Socialist Republic of Romania
in 1978.
- Matiur Rahman
, a Pakistani/Bangladeshi pilot who in 1971 attempted to defect with a T-33 along with confidential Pakistani war plans to India to join the
Bangladesh Liberation War
. However his plan was foiled by Flt.Lt
Rashid Minhas
who crashed the plane after a brief struggle for control over the aircraft. The plane crashed some 50 Kilometres from the border.
[15]
- Leamsy Salazar
, former
lieutenant colonel
of
Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela
and head of
security detail
for
Hugo Chavez
, defected to United States in December 2014.
- Heng Samrin
, a top-brass military figure in
Democratic Kampuchea
defected to
Vietnam
during the
Khmer Rouge
purges of the Eastern Zone after considering the fate of
So Phim
, his superior in command.
[16]
- Travis King
, a US Army private who defected to North Korea, possibly to avoid facing a dishonorable discharge and legal charges, in 2023. North Korea would later return him to American custody.
Politics
[
edit
]
- Guy Burgess
, British diplomat and member of the
Cambridge Five
, defected to the Soviet Union in 1951.
- Donald Maclean
, British diplomat and member of the Cambridge Five, defected to the Soviet Union in 1951.
- Kim Philby
, British intelligence officer and member of the Cambridge Five, defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.
- Viktor Suvorov
(born 1947), Russian writer and former Soviet military intelligence officer who defected to the United Kingdom in 1978.
- Thae Yong-ho
, a former
North Korean
diplomat for Britain. At an unknown date Thae defected from North Korea for his family, because he "didn't want his children, who were used to life of freedom, to suffer life of oppression". Being one of North Korea's elite, for the nation he was the highest profile defection since No Kum-sok (above) in 1953. He was elected to the
South Korean
National Assembly
in
2020
for the
United Future Party
, representing the Gangnam A district of
Seoul
.
[
citation needed
]
- Vladimir Petrov
- Soviet diplomat who defected to Australia in 1954.
[17]
[18]
[19]
Others
[
edit
]
- Viktor Korchnoi
, Russian chess Grandmaster, defected in Amsterdam in 1976.
- Walter Polovchak
, minor, defected to the United States in 1980 at 12. He and his parents moved to the United States from
Soviet Ukraine
in 1980 but later that year his parents decided to move back to Ukraine. He did not wish to return with them and was the subject of a five-year struggle to stay permanently. He won the right to permanent sanctuary in 1985 upon turning 18.
- The crew of
oil tanker Tuapse
, held hostage in 1954 by the government of
Taiwan
during the
White Terror
. An unusual case of forced defection, where the crew were forced to defect to the United States to secure their release. Those who refused were subjected to various forms of torture, while those who subsequently retracted their defection and returned to the Soviet Union were sentenced for treason but later pardoned. All surviving crew were released in 1988.
- Vaas Feniks Nokard
[
ja
]
, in order to defect from Russia in 2021, swam from
Kunashir Island
to
Hokkaido
, a distance of about 20 kilometers, in 23 hours.
[20]
- Yeonmi Park
is a
North Korean defector
and activist whose family fled from North Korea to China in 2007
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Definition of DEFECTOR"
.
www.merriam-webster.com
.
Archived
from the original on 2015-02-26.
- ^
"Defection | Define Defection at Dictionary.com"
.
Archived
from the original on 2011-04-03
. Retrieved
2011-03-22
.
"de·fec·tion [dih-fek-shuhn]
noun
(1.) desertion from allegiance, loyalty, duty, or the like; apostasy: His defection to East Germany was regarded as treasonable. (2.) failure; lack; loss: He was overcome by a sudden defection of courage." Retrieved 22MARCH2011.
- ^
"Defector | Define Defector at Dictionary.com"
.
Archived
from the original on 2011-04-05
. Retrieved
2011-03-22
.
"de·fec·tor [dih-fek-ter]
?noun
a person who defects from a cause, country, alliance, etc. Origin: 1655?65; < Latin d?fector renegade, rebel, equivalent to d?fec- (variant stem of d?ficere to become disaffected, revolt, literally, to fail; see defect) + -tor -tor" Retrieved 22MARCH2011.
- ^
"defector"
,
The Free Dictionary
,
archived
from the original on 2019-08-27
, retrieved
2023-01-18
- ^
"
defector
1660s, agent noun in Latin form from defect, or else from L. defector "revolter," agent noun from deficere (see deficient)." Retrieved 22MARCH2011.
Archived
2011-07-28 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
Brooks, Risa A. (2019-05-11).
"Integrating the Civil?Military Relations Subfield"
.
Annual Review of Political Science
.
22
(1): 379?398.
doi
:
10.1146/annurev-polisci-060518-025407
.
ISSN
1094-2939
.
- ^
Grewal, Sharan (2019-06-01).
"Military Defection During Localized Protests: The Case of Tataouine"
.
International Studies Quarterly
.
63
(2): 259?269.
doi
:
10.1093/isq/sqz003
.
ISSN
0020-8833
.
- ^
"1974: Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from the Soviet Union - CBC Archives"
.
cbc.ca
.
Archived
from the original on 2015-09-23.
- ^
Bridcut, John (16 September 2007).
"The KGB's long war against Rudolf Nureyev"
.
Telegraph.co.uk
.
Archived
from the original on 2016-03-22
. Retrieved
2016-03-03
.
- ^
Tignor, Steve (May 7, 2015).
"1975: Martina Navratilova defects to U.S. while playing the U.S. Open"
.
Tennis.com
. Retrieved
June 10,
2024
.
- ^
"The plight of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya shows what a pariah Belarus now is | Mary Dejevsky"
.
Independent.co.uk
. 2 August 2021.
- ^
Dowling, Stephen
The Pilot Who Stole A Secret Soviet Fighter Jet September 5, 2016
Archived
February 18, 2017, at the
Wayback Machine
BBC
Retrieved August 24, 2017
- ^
"
Factsheets: Story of the MiG-15
Archived
2013-09-22 at the
Wayback Machine
." National Museum of the United States Air Force.
- ^
"
'Let's give it a try,' recalls Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine in his military helicopter"
. 4 September 2023.
- ^
"Pakistan Army"
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Professor Ben Kiernan (2008).
The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia Under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79
. Yale University Press.
ISBN
978-0-300-14434-5
.
- ^
"Mrs Petrov's death brings bizarre affair to end"
. 27 July 2002.
Archived
from the original on 29 November 2018
. Retrieved
20 March
2022
.
- ^
"Obituary: Evdokia Petrov"
.
TheGuardian.com
. 27 July 2002.
Archived
from the original on 29 November 2018
. Retrieved
20 March
2022
.
- ^
"Spies who loved us"
. 27 July 2002.
Archived
from the original on 24 August 2018
. Retrieved
20 March
2022
.
- ^
【テレビ初告白】なぜ彼は?後島から泳いできたのか ?出のきっかけ「不愉快な出?事」とは… すべてを語る
, retrieved
2022-11-03
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Brook-Shepherd, Gordon.
The storm petrels: the first Soviet defectors, 1928-1938
. HarperCollins, 1977).
- Hanni, Adrian, and Miguel Grossmann. "Death to traitors? The pursuit of intelligence defectors from the Soviet Union to the Putin era."
Intelligence and National Security
(2020): 1-21.
- Krasnov, Vladislav.
Soviet defectors: The KGB wanted list
(Hoover Press, 2018).
- Riehle, Kevin P. "The Defector Balance Sheet: Westbound Versus Eastbound Intelligence Defectors from 1945 to 1965."
International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence
33.1 (2020): 68-96.
- Riehle, Kevin P.
"Early Cold War evolution of British and US defector policy and practice"
[
dead link
]
.
Cold War History
19.3 (2019): 343-361.
online free
- Schecter, Jerrold L;
Deriabin, Peter S
;
Penkovskij, Oleg Vladimirovic
(1992).
The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War
.
New York City
:
Charles Scribner's Sons
.
ISBN
978-0-684-19068-6
.
OCLC
909016158
.
About
Oleg Penkovsky
.
- Scott, Erik R. (2023).
Defectors: How the Illicit Flight of Soviet Citizens Built the Borders of the Cold War World
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-754687-1
.
- Tromly, Benjamin.
"Ambivalent heroes: Russian defectors and American power in the early Cold War"
[
dead link
]
.
Intelligence and National Security
33.5 (2018): 642-658.
External links
[
edit
]