A rogue state, in the most general sense, is a state that abides neither by international law nor international standards of proper governance and behavior.

The term is used almost exclusively by the government of the United States and has not gained wide acceptance.

States that have the label applied to them are typically ruled by authoritarian regimes that severely restrict human rights. They are generally hostile to the West and its allies, and are often accused of sponsoring terrorism and/or seeking to acquire or develop weapons of mass destruction.

Such states may exhibit any number of these policies or attributes:

• A nation with a foreign policy significantly at odds with those of the west (particularly the USA).
• The squandering of national resources for the personal gain of the rulers or ruling class, with little or no regard for the needs and desires of the general populace;
• Minimal deference to international law, threatening behaviour towards neighbors, refusal to accede to or acknowledge international treaties;
• Possession, or the determination to possess, weapons of mass destruction and/or other advanced military technology, for use in an aggressive manner;
• Sponsorship of global terrorism;
• Irrationality to the extent that conventional methods of negotiation are ineffective, lack of diplomatic communication with other states;
• Rejection of basic human rights, often including openly genocidal practices.

The U.S. has used the alleged threat posed by rogue states to the security of other countries to justify its foreign policy and other initiatives; for example, renewed interest in and funding of anti-ballistic missiles programs are, according to U.S. officials, grounded in the concern that a rogue state may launch a weapon of mass destruction against the U.S. and not be deterred by the certainty of retaliation. North Korea and Iraq have been suggested as "rogue states," along with Iran, Syria, and Libya.

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.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the term rogue state has been supplemented in the United States by the term "axis of evil," adopted (January 29, 2002) by President George W. Bush in reference to Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

As the United States government remains the most active proponent of the "rogue state" expression, somewhat predictably the term has received much criticism from those who disagree with U.S. foreign policy, including many within the U.S. itself.

Some critics charge that "rogue state" merely means any state that opposes the U.S., but does not necessarily pose a wider threat. Others accuse the U.S. of being a rogue state itself, whose foreign policy is sometimes accused of having the sort of brutality and capriciousness of those it considers "rogue states." The book Rogue Nation claims that the U.S. is as much of a "rogue state" as any other, even by its own standards.

Many critics have applied the label to the United States for its "unilateralism," noting its skirting of several major international treaties including the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (from which it withdrew), the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (which it did not ratify), the International Criminal Court (did not ratify, and refuses to accept its jurisdiction) and the Kyoto Protocol on the Environment (signed, but did not ratify). Even more worrying to critics is the perceived tendency of the U.S. to take armed action against governments it deems hostile "virtually on its own," particularly the 2003 invasion of Iraq (despite having over 30 nations in the coalition) and its history of bypassing or ignoring the United Nations.

See also: failed state.

External link

• Prevent Our Enemies from Threatening Us, Our Allies, and Our Friends with Weapons of Mass Destruction -- official White House statement