Page "Sphere of influence" Paragraph 5

Sometimes portions of a single country can fall into two distinct spheres of influence.

In the colonial era the buffer states of Iran and Thailand, lying between the empires of Britain / Russia and Britain / France respectively, were divided between the spheres of influence of the imperial powers.

Likewise, after World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones, which later consolidated into West Germany and East Germany, the former a member of NATO and the latter a member of the Warsaw Pact.