Rogue state

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For the 2000 book by William Blum, see Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower.

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 severely restricting human rights, accused of sponsoring terrorism, and seeking to proliferate weapons of mass destruction.

In the last six months of the Clinton administration, the term "rogue state" was temporarily replaced with the term "state of concern," however, the Bush administration has 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.

In late 1990s U.S. officials considered as "rogue states" North Korea, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Libya. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan 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 by the "Axis of Evil" concept (gathering Iraq, Iran, and North Korea). US President George W. Bush first spoke of this "Axis of Evil" during his January 2002 State of the Union Address.

Various commentators have maintained that Israel is a rogue state. [1] They cite Israel's occupation of Palestine, invasions of neighboring countries, its proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and argue that Israel has a policy of annexation and colonization. [2] However, contrary to other termed 'rogue states', Israel has been consistently supported by the United States. Additionally, Israel's supporters claim that it is a liberal democracy with a human rights record similar to that of other democracies. [3] Israel also participates in friendly relations with Western nations unlike other countries with the rogue state label.

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. Some point to the double standards over Pakistan which has been blatantly breaching nuclear non-proliferation protocols by exporting nuclear weapons technology, yet has not been declared as a "rogue state" by the U.S.[4] [5] Some others, such as author William Blum, have written that the term is applicable to the U.S. itself. 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.

[edit] Bibliography

Critical of the "Rogue State" concept:

Chomsky, Noam, Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs ISBN 0-89608-611-9
Derrida, Jacques, Rogues: Two Essays on Reason 2005 ISBN 0-8047-4950-7 (trans. Brault and Naas)