Plural of 'blowback'; unintended negative consequences or effects of an action, especially in politics or foreign policy.
From 'blow' + 'back,' originally a technical term for gases or pressure reversing direction. In the 1990s, the CIA term 'blowback' gained popular usage to describe unintended geopolitical consequences.
The term 'blowback' entered mainstream political vocabulary from CIA terminology in the 1990s—it describes how secret military interventions often produce unexpected consequences that eventually harm the country that initiated them, making it a humbling reminder that hidden actions have visible results.
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