buffer state
noun
: a usually neutral state lying between two larger potentially rival powers
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The country has long existed as a buffer state — spending 700 years as part of Sweden before being retched away by the Russian Empire in 1809. 
Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2022 Lukashenko has led the former Soviet republic that Moscow sees as a buffer state to the West since 1994 and strengthened ties with Moscow during mass protests that erupted in 2020 as the West imposed sanctions. NBC News, 18 Jan. 2022 By these means, Ukraine would become a neutral buffer state. Noah Millman, The Week, 9 Jan. 2022 In Putin’s worldview of a Russia threatened by an expanding and aggressive NATO, Belarus is the last remaining friendly buffer state between his country and the West. BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2021 Despite its relatively small population size, Belarus matters to Russia as a buffer state against NATO and a conduit for Russian exports of oil and gas. Yuras Karmanau, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Sep. 2020 De Groesbeeck was a member of a noble family connected to the powerful Prince-Bishopric of Liège, once an affluent buffer state between the Holy Roman Empire and the Low Countries. WSJ, 13 Feb. 2019 China is on board since such a deal would preserve the North as a buffer state and ease U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies that do business with the North. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 28 May 2018 Syria’s future would be determined by the Arabs, Iran would accept Iraq as a neutral buffer state between it and the Sunni Arab world, and an uneasy peace would prevail. Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 14 May 2018 See More
Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2022 Lukashenko has led the former Soviet republic that Moscow sees as a buffer state to the West since 1994 and strengthened ties with Moscow during mass protests that erupted in 2020 as the West imposed sanctions. NBC News, 18 Jan. 2022 By these means, Ukraine would become a neutral buffer state. Noah Millman, The Week, 9 Jan. 2022 In Putin’s worldview of a Russia threatened by an expanding and aggressive NATO, Belarus is the last remaining friendly buffer state between his country and the West. BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2021 Despite its relatively small population size, Belarus matters to Russia as a buffer state against NATO and a conduit for Russian exports of oil and gas. Yuras Karmanau, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Sep. 2020 De Groesbeeck was a member of a noble family connected to the powerful Prince-Bishopric of Liège, once an affluent buffer state between the Holy Roman Empire and the Low Countries. WSJ, 13 Feb. 2019 China is on board since such a deal would preserve the North as a buffer state and ease U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies that do business with the North. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 28 May 2018 Syria’s future would be determined by the Arabs, Iran would accept Iraq as a neutral buffer state between it and the Sunni Arab world, and an uneasy peace would prevail. Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 14 May 2018 See More Word History
First Known Use
1883, in the meaning defined above