Definition of "buffer state" [buffer state]

• A neutral state lying between two rival or potentially hostile states and serving to prevent conflict between them. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Fundamentally, China likes a divided Korean peninsula, likes having North Korea as a vassal and a buffer state between its forces and those of the United States and South Korea, and very much fears the collapse of the Kim Jung-il regime."