Diversional political strategy, often military in nature
For other uses, see Wag the Dog (disambiguation).
Wag the dog is, as a political term, the act of creating a diversion from a damaging issue usually through military force. It stems from the generic use of the term to mean a small and seemingly unimportant entity (the tail) controls a bigger, more important one (the dog). It is usually used by a politician when they are in a scandal, in hopes that people forget about the scandal and focus on the more important issue. The phrase originates in the saying "a dog is smarter than its tail, but if the tail were smarter, then it would wag the dog."[1] The concept has strong intersections with many other aspects of Diversionary foreign policy, particularly the rally 'round the flag effect, as wag the dog actions tend to both distract and seek to bolster support through these actions.
^"Wag the dog". theidioms.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
WagtheDog is a 1997 American political satire black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro...
Wagthedog is, as a political term, the act of creating a diversion from a damaging issue usually through military force. It stems from the generic use...
Tail wagging is the behavior of thedog observed as its tail moves back and forth in the same plane. Within Canidae, specifically Canis lupus familiaris...
releases—Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer and WagtheDog. The disaster film Volcano, about the formation of a volcano in Los Angeles, had her star...
for nine films, including Local Hero (1983), Cal (1984), The Princess Bride (1987), WagtheDog (1997) and Altamira (2016). He has produced albums for Tina...
Tatara, Paul (January 6, 1998). "'WagtheDog' grabs satire by the tail". CNN: Showbiz/Movies. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Sandler...
both a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for her work on the screenplay of WagtheDog in 1997. Henkin was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and raised...
Look up wag or WAG in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wag generally refers to tail wagging by dogs. Wag, Wags, WAG or WAGS may also refer to: Wag (band)...
Oscar-nominated roles are for The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Lenny (1975), Tootsie (1982), and WagtheDog (1997). Other notable roles include...
Run (1988); WagtheDog (1997); Analyze This (1999) and its sequel, Analyze That (2002); the Meet the Parents films (2000–2010); and The Intern (2015)...
(1996), thriller Mad City (1997), and the satirical black comedy WagtheDog (1997) alongside Robert De Niro. In the 2000s, he played theatrical producer...
(1981), The Verdict (1982), The Untouchables (1987), Hoffa (1992), WagtheDog (1997), and Hannibal (2001). Mamet himself wrote the screenplay for the 1992...
Field originated the role, but in 1993, when he had to undergo a hernia operation, the role, along with the Blue Wiggle and WagstheDog, was played by...
Disclosure, Red Eye and WagtheDog. Plakson wrote and performed an allegorical solo show, An Evening with Eve. Plakson penned and performed the alternative country...
of her father's films, including Showtime (2002), WagtheDog (1997), City by the Sea (2002) and The Intern (2015). Recently De Niro's endeavors have led...
performance in the premiere of Donald Margulies's two-person play Collected Stories at South Coast Repertory. She then went on to film WagtheDog while simultaneously...
the 1990s, including substantial roles in the films Judgment Night (1993), Gunmen (1994), Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) and WagtheDog (1997). In the 2000s...
work in the television series SCTV and Great News. She has appeared in films such as Black Christmas (1974), WagtheDog (1997), Hedwig and the Angry Inch...
voiced Young Anastasia in the animated musical film Anastasia. Also in 1997, Dunst appeared in the black comedy film WagtheDog, opposite Robert De Niro...
best known as the author of the political and detective novel American Hero, which was adapted into the political-parody film WagtheDog. An early inspiration...
This is the list of episodes for Bunnicula, an animated series based on the original books written by Deborah Howe and James Howe. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's...
Valentine's Day. In the 1997 film WagtheDog, the song performed by Chevalier is used as backdrop for an election campaign ad. In the mid-1990s, a contemporary...
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