Rogue state is a term applied by some international theorists to states considered threatening to the world's peace. This means meeting certain criteria, such as being ruled by authoritarian regimes that severely restrict human rights, sponsor terrorism, and seek to proliferate weapons of mass destruction.^[5] The term is used most by the United States, though it has been applied by other countries.^[6]

In virtually all international foreign policy circles,^[who?] rogue states are considered to be those nations utterly ruled by individuals (rather than subject to a popular electoral process) and whose legitimacy, intentions, and notions of the process of legitimate succession (if any) is highly suspect. Furthermore, rogue states (as opposed to nominal non-newsworthy dictatorships which pose no external threat) typically become consequential due to their engagement in the threat - or conduct of - war, particularly against neighbor states, without regard to international law.

Rogue states can also be differentiated from 'pariah states' such as Burma (Myanmar) and Zimbabwe who allegedly abuse the human rights of their populations while not being considered a tangible threat beyond their own borders, although the terms have been used interchangeably.

[edit] United States usage

In late 1980s U.S. officials considered North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Libya as "rogue states". The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 removed the country from the list, and Iraq followed suit after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Libya achieved success through diplomacy and now is also not considered in the list. The concept of "rogue states" was replaced by the Bush administration with the "Axis of Evil" concept (gathering Iraq, Iran, and North Korea). U.S. President George W. Bush first spoke of this "Axis of Evil" during his January 2002 State of the Union Address.

In the last six months of the Clinton administration, Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced that the term "rogue state" would be abolished in June 2000, in favour of "states of concern".^[7] However the Bush administration returned to the earlier term. The U.S. government perceives the threat posed by these states as justifying its foreign policy and military initiatives, as in the case of anti-ballistic missile programs, which are held to be grounded in the concern that these states will not be deterred by the certainty of retaliation.

As the U.S. government remains the most active proponent of the "rogue state" expression, the term has received much criticism from those who disagree with U.S. foreign policy. Critics charge that "rogue state" merely means any state that is generally hostile to the U.S., or even one that opposes the U.S. without necessarily posing a wider threat.^[8][9] Some others, such as author William Blum, have written that the term is applicable to the U.S. and Israel. Both the concepts of rogue states and the "Axis of Evil" have been criticized by certain scholars, including philosopher Jacques Derrida and linguist Noam Chomsky, who considered it more or less a justification of imperialism and a useful word for propaganda.

Political scientists Stephen M. Walt and John J. Mearsheimer, from Harvard University and the University of Chicago, respectively, consider Israel to be a rogue state in The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.^[10]

In Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower, William Blum claims that the United States of America because of its foreign policy is itself a Rogue State. Iran described US a rogue state.^[11]

[edit] Usage in other countries

While the term is used in the media of many countries, it has only been officially used by the United Kingdom,^[12] Ukraine^[13] and other Western countries. However, the expression has been criticised by France,^[14] Russia and China.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Allman, T. D. (2004). Rogue State: America at War with the World. Nation Books. ISBN 978-1560255628
• Blum, William. (2006). Rogue state: a guide to the world's only superpower. Zed Books. ISBN 978-1842778272
• Chomsky, Noam. (2000). Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs. Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0745317083
• Derrida, Jacques. (2005). Rogues: Two Essays on Reason. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0804749510 (Translated by Pascale-Anne Brault, Michael Naas)
• Litwak, Robert. (2000). Rogue states and U.S. foreign policy: containment after the Cold War. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. ISBN 978-0943875989
• Pendleton, Don. (2002). Rogue State. Harlequin Books. ISBN 978-0373619450
• Rotberg, Robert. (2007). Worst of the worst: dealing with repressive and rogue nations. World Peace Foundation. ISBN 978-0815775676
• Thompson, Janna. (2002). Is There Such a Thing as a Rogue State? Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics
• Triplett, William. (2004). Rogue state: how a nuclear North Korea threatens America. Regnery Publishing. ISBN 978-0895260680

[edit] External links

• Prevent Our Enemies from Threatening Us, Our Allies, and Our Friends with Weapons of Mass Destruction - Official White House statement
• Global Rogue State - Article by Edward S. Herman which argues that the U.S. is a rogue state.
• "Rogue States A Handy Label, But a Lousy Policy" The Washington Post, 2000, by Robert S. Litwak (use 'search' to find the article on the huge page)
• The New America Foundation: Beyond American Hegemony