What is "rogue state"

n. A state or nation acting outside of the accepted international norms and policy.

n. a Third World state that possesses weapons of mass destruction and sponsors terrorism [syn: renegade state, rogue nation]

• States currently considered "Rogue States" by the United States:

• States formerly considered "Rogue States" by the United States:

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 stopped using the term in 2000. However, it has been applied by other countries as well.

Rogue states can also be differentiated from ' pariah states' such as Myanmar and Zimbabwe who 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.