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Defector - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Bolter, Collaborator, Convert, Deserter, Mugwump, Proselyte, Quisling, Rat, Renegade, Renegate, Schismatic, Secessionist, Separatist, Traitor |
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A defector is generally a person who gives up allegiance to a certain country in exchange for allegiance to another. This act is usually in an illegal way (as opposed to changing citizenship). For example, during the Cold war, the many people escaping across the Berlin Wall to flee from communist East Germany to the West were called defectors or, indeed, traitors.
In some cases, defectors remain in the country they are against, as an agent, or in many cases, a double agent. This is a common device in many thriller and spy novels, including those of Tom Clancy, especially Red Rabbit and the Cardinal of the Kremlin.
Defector is the title of a 1980 album by Steve Hackett.
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