Rogue state

"Rogue nation" redirects here. For other uses, seeRogue Nation (disambiguation).For the 2000 book by William Blum, seeRogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower.

"Rogue state"(or sometimes"outlaw state") is a term applied by someinternational theoriststo states that they consider threatening to the world's peace. These states meet certain criteria, such as being ruled byauthoritarianortotalitariangovernments that severely restricthuman rights,sponsoringterrorism,or seeking to proliferateweapons of mass destruction.The term is used most by theUnited States(although theUS State Departmentofficially stopped using the term in 2000);in his speech at theUnited Nations(UN) in 2017, U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpreiterated this phrase.U.S. politicians have used the term to describe countries such asIran,Syria,North Korea,Afghanistan,CubaandVenezuela.The term has been applied by other countries as well.

Usage by the United States

As early as July 1985, PresidentRonald Reaganstated that "we are not going to tolerate… attacks from outlaw states by the strangest collection of misfits, looney tunes, and squalid criminals since the advent of the Third Reich," but it fell to the Clinton administration to elaborate on this concept.In the 1994 issue ofForeign Affairs,U.S. National Security AdvisorAnthony Lakelabelled five nations asrogue states:North Korea,Cuba,Iran,Libya under Muammar Gaddafi,andIraq under Saddam Hussein.He described these regimes as "recalcitrant and outlaw states that not only choose to remain outside the family but also assault its basic values".Cuba was put on the list solely because of the political influence of the Cuban-American community and specifically that of the Cuban American National Foundation(pre-Jorge Mas Santos), whereasSyriaandPakistanavoided being added to the list because the United States hoped that Syria could play a constructive role in the Arab-Israeli peace process, and because Washington had long maintained close relations with Pakistan.

Three other nations, theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia,Sudan,and theIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan,were treated asrogue statesas well.The US State Department at times labelled Yugoslavia as a "rogue state" because its leader,Slobodan Milošević,had been accused of violating the rights of his nation's citizens, including but not limited toattempted genocide in Croatiaand orchestrating theSrebrenica massacrein eastern Bosnia.

The United States employed several tools to isolate and punish "rogue states". Tough unilateral economic sanctions, often at congressional behest, were imposed on or tightened against Iran, Libya, Cuba, Sudan, and Afghanistan. After the conclusion of theGulf Warin 1991, the United States selectively usedairpoweragainst Iraq for years during theIraqi no-fly zonesto force them in complying with variousUnited Nations Security Council resolutionsregardingdisarmament(i.e.,Resolution 687) andhuman rights(i.e.,Resolution 688).Cruise missiles were firedat Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation forterrorist attacks against U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzaniain August 1998. In March 1999, NATO launched amassive air-bombing campaign against Yugoslaviain response to the Yugoslav Army's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in the province of Kosovo.

In the last six months of theClinton administration,U.S. Secretary of StateMadeleine Albrightannounced that the termrogue statewould be abolished in June 2000, in favour of the termstates of concern,as three of the nations listed as "rogue states" (Libya, Iran, and North Korea) no longer met the conditions established to define arogue state.

Libya was removed from theState Sponsors of Terrorismlist in 2006 after achieving success throughdiplomacy.Relations with Libya also became more mutual following the eight monthLibyan Civil Warin 2011, which resulted in the National Transitional Council ousting longtime Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafifrom power.

In 2015, after the US reopened its embassy inCubaand restarted diplomatic relations with the Cuban government, Cuba was removed from the list ofState sponsors of terrorismand was no longer referred to as a "rogue state".

More recently, the administration of U.S. PresidentDonald TrumplabelledVenezuelaa "rogue state". During the 2017 UN general assembly, UN ambassadorNikki Haleycalled Venezuela a global threat and a "dangerousnarco-state".Some figures of the Venezuelan government, like Vice PresidentTareck el Aissamiand Minister of DefenseVladimir Padrino López,were permanently banned from entering US territory, due to their involvement with human rights abuses and drug cartels. Later in 2017, the US government banned all high ranking Venezuelan government officials from entering US territory.Currently, due to the2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis,Nicolas Maduro's government (which controls Venezuelade facto) is not recognized as legitimate by the United States or most other states in theWestern Hemisphere,with the exceptions ofCuba,Dominica,Nicaragua,Saint Kitts and Nevis,Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,andSuriname.

On 19 June 2020, U.S. Secretary of StateMike Pompeocalled the People's Republic of China a "rogue actor" at the Virtual Copenhagen Democracy Summit, saying that "General SecretaryXi Jinpinghas green-lighted a brutal campaign of repression against Chinese Muslims, a human rights violation on a scale we haven’t seen since World War II. "In addition, Pompeo cited China's handling of COVID-19," malicious cyber campaigns "it conducted, and itstreatment of Hong Kong citizensas reasons for labeling China as a rogue actor.

Later terms

In the aftermath of theSeptember 11 attacks,theBush administrationreturned to using a similar term. The concept ofrogue stateswas replaced by the Bush administration with the concept of anAxis of Evil,which encompassedIraq,Iran,andNorth Korea.U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bushfirst spoke of this "Axis of Evil" during his January 2002State of the Union Address.More terms, such asOutposts of Tyranny,would follow suit.

Because the U.S. government remains the most active proponent of the expressionrogue state,the term has received much criticism from those who disagree withAmerican foreign policy.Both the concepts ofrogue statesand theAxis of Evilhave been criticized by scholars, including philosopherJacques Derridaand linguistNoam Chomsky,who considered it more or less a justification ofimperialismand a useful word forpropaganda.Some critics charge thatrogue statemerely 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.Others, such as authorWilliam Blum,argued that the term is also applicable to the U.S. andIsrael.In hisRogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower,Blum claimed that the United States defines itself as a rogue state through its foreign policy.

United States as a rogue state

Some critics ofUS foreign policydescribe theUnited Statesas a rogue state.William Blum's 2000 bookRogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpowersuggests that US-led interventions around the world during and after theCold Warhave threatened the world's peace.Noam Chomsky has also described the US as a rogue state after theassassination of Qasem Soleimani.Its nuclear proliferation andlarge numbers of nuclear warheads(the second most in the world), sponsorship of terrorist or guerilla groups tooverthrow opposing governmentsespecially inLatin America,andviolations of human rights in wartimeare all suggested to be characteristics of a rogue state.The US has also passed a law threatening to invadeThe Hagueif American officials or military personnel were to ever be prosecuted forwar crimescalled theAmerican Service-Members' Protection Act.

Usage by Turkey

On 23 February 1999, Turkish PresidentSüleyman DemireldescribedGreeceas a "rogue state" because of its alleged support of theKurdistan Workers' Party(PKK). Demirel said "Greece serves as a sanctuary for members of the PKK seeking shelter and provides training facilities and logistics to the terrorists."

On 28 June 2012, after theshooting down of a Turkish warplaneby theSyrian Armyduring theSyrian civil war,Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip ErdoğandeclaredSyriato be a "rogue state".In October 2020, Erdoğan describedArmeniaas a rogue state, referring to theSecond Nagorno-Karabakh War.He used the words "countries supporting rogue state Armenia in its occupation of Karabakh would have to face the common conscience of humanity".Commentator Robert Ellis, writing in the British newspaperThe Independentin 2016, claimed thatTurkeyunder Erdoğan risks "being regarded as a rogue state" due to its increasingly authoritarian government, thedeterioration of the human rights in the country,theTurkish government's involvement in Syriaandits alleged support of terrorist groups.

Similarly, Erdoğan said after a cabinet meeting on 5 October 2020: "It is not possible for humanity to attain permanentpeaceand tranquility without saving the world from rogue states and their rogue rulers. Especially in our region, the number of rogue states is quite high. These rogue states, dating back toIsrael,Greek Administration of Cyprusand theSyrian regime,persecute their own citizens and destabilize the world. "

See also

• Axis of evil
• Failed state
• Narco state
• Rump state
• International isolation
• Pariah state
• State Sponsors of Terrorism
• Troika of tyranny
• Coup belt

Further reading

• Blum, William.(2006).Rogue state: a guide to the world's only superpower.Zed Books.ISBN978-1-84277-827-2.
• Chomsky, Noam.(2000).Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs.Pluto Press.ISBN978-0-7453-1708-3.
• Derrida, Jacques.(2005).Rogues: Two Essays on Reason.Stanford University Press.ISBN978-0-8047-4951-0.Translated by Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael Naas.
• Litwak, Robert.(2000).Rogue states and U.S. foreign policy: containment after the Cold War.Woodrow Wilson Center Press.ISBN978-0-943875-98-9.

External links

• Prevent Our Enemies from Threatening Us, Our Allies, and Our Friends with Weapons of Mass Destruction- Official White House statement
• The New America Foundation: Beyond American Hegemony