| has gloss | eng: Client state is one of several terms used to describe the subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs. It is the least specific of these terms and may be treated as a broad category which includes satellite state, associated state, puppet state, neo-colony, protectorate, vassal state and tributary state. (See also unequal treaty.) The idea that there might be a hierarchy of states, some more or less dependent on others, contradicts the doctrine of Westphalian sovereignty which holds that each state is a distinct, separate and sovereign entity. |