defectors
Those who abandon
Defectors are people who abandon a country, cause, or allegiance for an opposing one.
The term carries weight—it implies betrayal of something significant: Cold War defectors crossed the Iron Curtain, Several party defectors voted against the bill.
Defection suggests not just leaving but switching sides, often at personal risk.
One who betrays allegiance
- turncoatOne who betrays allegiance
- quislingTreasonous occupation collaborator
- betrayalBreaking of trust
- treacheryDeliberate violation of trust
spy · collaborator · informant · mole · backstabber · Judas · perfidy · sellout
Shelter from persecution
- borderOuter edge or limit
- exileBanishment from homeland
- refugeePerson fleeing danger abroad
- diplomatOfficial foreign representative
dissident · emigrate · expatriate · flee · sanctuary · regime · ideology · propaganda
One who abandons duty
- AWOLAbsent without permission
- soldierArmed forces member
- treasonBetraying one's nation
- intelligenceMental ability, cognitive capacity
classified · secrets · reconnaissance · interrogation · court-martial · battalion · regiment · wartime
traitor
One who betrays allegiance
- turncoatOne who betrays allegiance
- quislingTreasonous occupation collaborator
- betrayalBreaking of trust
treachery · spy · collaborator · informant · mole · backstabber · Judas · perfidy · sellout · rat
asylum
Shelter from persecution
diplomat · dissident · emigrate · expatriate · flee · sanctuary · regime · ideology · propaganda · repatriation
deserter
One who abandons duty
intelligence · classified · secrets · reconnaissance · interrogation · court-martial · battalion · regiment · wartime · enemy
dissident
Opposer of established systems
renounce · ideology · beliefs · doctrine · faith · party · cause · movement · principles · recant
- Cuba-US RelationsCuban embargo, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs, trade embargo, normalization
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- migrationmigration, immigrants, refugees, immigration, emigration
- peoplesAmericans, British, Chinese, French, Germans
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis
- communismMarx, Marxism, Leninism, Lenin, proletariat