evil empire
Malevolent ruling state
Evil empire is a phrase used to characterize a nation or regime as fundamentally malevolent and threatening.
Ronald Reagan popularized it in 1983 to describe the Soviet Union, framing the Cold War as a moral struggle.
The phrase now applies to any powerful entity cast as villainous: Star Wars gave us the original evil empire.
It often carries rhetorical or ironic overtones.
- evildoerOne who causes harm
- demonizationCasting as evil
- Death StarFictional world-destroying space station
- MordorVolcanic evil kingdom
- totalitarianismState controls everything absolutely
Dystopia · Soviet Union · Sauron · Khmer Rouge · dystopian fiction · Orwellian · authoritarianism · Nazi Germany · dictatorship · Cold War · Iron Curtain · fearmongering · fascism · scapegoating · ideological warfare · villainy · world domination · dark side
- Political Quotesall men are created equal, Gettysburg Address, Declaration of Independence, Emancipation Proclamation, nothing to fear
- Reagan Eratrust but verify, trickle down
- sci-fiscience fiction, Star Wars, sci-fi, Blade Runner 2049, aliens
- 1980s AmericaRonald Reagan, Reagan, Iran-Contra, Contras, Sandinistas
evil empireutopia
Imagined perfect society
land of the free · just society · moral authority · noble republic · promised land
evil empirefree world
Existence without restrictions
leader of the free world · American democracy · NATO · Pax Americana
evil, empire, evils, evilly, evilness, empires, imperial, imperialism, imperialist