Rogue States and U.S. Foreign Policy

President Clinton and other US officials have warned that "rogue states" pose a major threat to international peace in the post-Cold War era, but what is a rogue state? The author traces the origins and development of rogue state policy and assesses its efficacy through case studies including Iraq.

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President Clinton and other US officials have warned that "rogue states" pose a major threat to international peace in the post-Cold War era, but what is a rogue state? Does the concept foster a sound approach to foreign policy, or is it, in the end, no more than a counterproductive epithet? Robert Litwak traces the origins and development of rogue state policy and then assesses its efficacy through detailed case studies of Iraq, Iran and North Korea. He shows that the policy is politically selective, inhibits the ability of US policymakers to adapt to changed conditions, and has been rejected by the United States' major allies. Litwak concludes that by lumping together and demonizing a disparate group of countries, the rogue state approach obscures understanding and distorts policymaking. In place of a generic and constricting strategy, he argues for the development of "differentiated" strategies of containment, tailored to the particular circumstances within individual states.