Rogue state Rogue state is a controversial term applied by some international theorists to states they consider 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 . The term is used most by the United States , though the US State Department officially quit using the term in 2000 . However , it has been applied by other countries as well . Rogue states can also be differentiated from ' pariah state s ' 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 . A common presumption applied to rogue states is that they do not necessarily behave rationally or in their own best interests . In political theory it is generally believed that a stable nation , ruled by a leadership that is subject to broad scrutiny ( though not necessarily democratic scrutiny ) , will tend to act in its own best interests and will not take actions that are directly contrary to its own interests , particularly not to its own survival . Rogue states , however , may not be subject to this assumption and , as such , relations with them may be more complicated and unpredictable . United States usage . As early as July 1985 , President Reagan had asserted that " we are not going to tolerate … attacks from outlaw states by the strangest collection of misfits , loony tunes , and squalid criminals since the advent of the Third Reich , " but it fell to the Clinton administration to elaborate this concept . In the 1994 issue of " Foreign Affairs " , National Security Advisor Anthony Lake claimed " the reality of recalcitrant and outlaw states that not only choose to remain outside the family [ of democratic nations ] but also assault its basic values . Lake labeled five regimes as " rogue states " : North Korea , Cuba , Iraq , Iran and Libya . In theory , at least , to be classified as a rogue , a state had to commit four transgressions : pursue weapons of mass destruction , support terrorism , severely abuse its own citizens , and stridently criticize the United States . While four of the listed rogue states met all these transgressions , Cuba , though still known for severely abusing its citizens and its strident criticism of the United States , no longer met all the transgressions required for a rogue state and was put on the list solely because of the political influence of the American Cuban community and specifically that of the Cuban American National Foundation . Syria and Pakistan , two nations which were hardly regarded by the United States as paragons of rectitude , avoided being added to the list because the United States hoped that Damascus could play a constructive role in the Arab - Israeli peace process , and because Washington had long maintained close relations with Islamabad — a vestige of the Cold War . Three other nations , Serbia and Montenegro , Sudan and Afghanistan , would also be treated as rogue states as well . The US State Department at times labeled Serbia and Montenegro as a rogue state because Slobodan Milosevic , who served as President of Serbia between the years 1989 and 1997 , had violated the rights of some of his nation ' s citizens , including but not limited to accusations of genocide in Bosnia , leading to the Bosnian Genocide Case . In August 1995 , the Croatian military forced Serbian Armed Forces , withdraw from Croatian territory ethnically cleansing the Serbian population in the process , and NATO now focused its attention on launching a major offensive operation against Serbian Armed Forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina . On August 30 , 1995 , 1995 NATO air campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina was initiated and Serbian Armed Forces soon withdrew from the vicinity of Sarajevo . On December 14 , 1995 , the Dayton Agreement was signed and the Yugoslav Wars temporarily ended for a few more years . 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 . The United States selectively used air - power against Iraq for years after the conclusion of the Gulf War in 1991 . Cruise missiles were fired at Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for terrorist attacks against U . S . embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in September 1998 . In February 1999 , NATO launched a massive air - bombing campaign in Serbia . In June 1999 , after enduring three months of heavy NATO bombing , the Milosevic regime withdrew from Kosovo . The Central Intelligence Agency supported a variety of covert actions designed to depose Saddam Hussein , while Congress approved the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998 aimed at providing Iraqi opposition groups with increased financial assistance . Several leading Republicans who would occupy high positions in the George W . Bush administration publicly urged President Clinton in February 1998 to recognize the Iraqi National Congress ( INC ) as the provisional government of Iraq . Some of these critics , including Paul Wolfowitz and Robert Zoellick , hinted that U . S . ground forces might ultimately be required to help the INC oust Saddam . In all of these anti - rogue efforts , however , Washington found it exceedingly difficult to persuade other nations ( with the partial exception of Britain ) to support its policies of ostracism and punishment . In the last six months of the Clinton administration , 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 , " as three of the rogue states ( Libya , Iran , and North Korea ) no longer met the four transgressions which defined a rogue state . In October 2000 , Milosevic was ousted from power and the US officially reopened its embassy in Serbia and Montenegro . The final international sanctions against the nation , which had been in place since the passage of United Nations Security Council resolution 724 in December 1991 , were lifted in January 2001 and in 2006 , Serbia and Montenegro officially dissolved into two separate states . The U . S . invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 ousted the Taliban from power and the US government , which no longer saw the nation ' s government as a threat , drastically relations with the country . The regime of Saddam Hussein was overt following after the U . S . - led 2003 invasion of Iraq and relations with Iraq dramatically improved afterwards . Libya was removed from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list in 2006 after achieving success through diplomacy . Relations with Libya also became more mutual following the eight month Libyan civil war in 2011 , which resulted in the National Transitional Council ousting longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from power . In October 2000 , Slobodan Milosevic , the Serbian president who played a leading role in the instigating the Yugoslav Wars , was ousted from power and the US officially reopened its embassy in the Serbia and Montenegro . The final sanctions against the nation were lifted in January 2001 and in 2006 , Serbia and Montenegro officially dissolved into two separate states . Later terms . In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks , the Bush administration returned to using a similar term . 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 . More terms , such as Beyond the Axis of Evil and Outposts of Tyranny , would follow suit . 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 others , such as author William Blum , have written that the term is also 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 . In " " , William Blum claims that the United States of America , because of its foreign policy , is itself a rogue state . 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 and Ukraine . However , the expression has been criticized by France , Russia , and China .