useful idiot
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Derogatory term that originated in the Western bloc during the Cold War, referring to a person who, though not a spy, unwittingly promotes or defends the ideology or movements of enemy states such as those in the Eastern bloc
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Within Vinony's link graph, useful idiot is referenced by 42 other articles, and connects out to The New York Times, Russian and Vladimir Putin.
It is catalogued under topics including Cold War terminology, Pejorative terms for people and Political pejoratives for people.
Its subject is documented across 32 Wikipedia language editions.
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Encyclopedic overview
A useful idiot or useful fool is a pejorative description of a person, suggesting that the person thinks they are fighting for a cause without fully comprehending the consequences of their actions, and who does not realize they are being manipulated by the cause's leaders or by other political players. The term was often used during the Cold War in the Western Bloc to describe non-communists regarded as susceptible to communist propaganda and psychological manipulation.
This statement has traditionally been attributed to Vladimir Lenin, but this attribution is not supported by any evidence. Similar terms exist in other languages, and the first mention in the English language predates Lenin's birth.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “useful idiot” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.