An
enemy of the state is a person accused of certain
crimes against the
state, such as
treason. Describing individuals in this way is sometimes a manifestation of
political repression. For example, an
authoritarian regime may purport to maintain
national security by describing social or political
dissidents as "enemies of the state". In other cases, the individual in question may have legitimately endangered the country and/or its population. For example, a
double agent selling military or intelligence secrets could undermine a nation's security, and could therefore be considered an enemy not of just a person or entity within a state, but the state itself and all entities therein.