The 4 current Rogue States

The term "rogue state" goes back to the US government under George W. Bush, which used it to describe aggressive states that threaten either the USA itself or its allies. Although the term was new, the concept of the exclusion of dangerous nations was introduced in 1994. The first countries to be considered "Rogue States" were North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Iraq and Libya.

Currently, 4 countries are considered rogue states. The definition of rogue state is determined exclusively by the US government and mainly includes countries that support terrorism or use or develop weapons of mass destruction.

Country	Since	Region	Area	Population
Iran	1984	South Asia	1,745,150 km²	87.9 M
North Korea	2017	East Asia	120,540 km²	26.0 M
Sudan	1993	Northern Africa	1,879,358 km²	45.7 M
Syria	1979	Western Asia	185,180 km²	21.3 M

International importance

The origin of the term and the political orientation go back exclusively to the USA and are not an internationally recognized criterion. Although organizations such as the United Nations or the European Union have issued sanctions against these states, this has not led to the same classification.

The fact that the list of rogue states is not internationally binding is also apparent from the reasons for the inclusion and removal of individual nations. For example, Cuba was listed as a rogue state from 1982 to 2015 and was only removed from the list because diplomatic relations were resumed. Other nations had nothing to do with this. Also, in the case of Libya (2006), the fact that Muammar al-Gaddafi spoke out publicly against terrorism was enough to remove it. North Korea was not considered a rogue state from 2008 to 2017 because the US assumed that North Korea had ended its nuclear program.

Distinction from Pariah States

The definition of the rogue states is quite similar to that of the pariah states, but should not be equated. Pariah states are neither firmly defined, nor are they forcibly directed against the USA or any other state.

Key figures in comparison

(All figures weighted according to population share.)

	Rogue States	World	USA
Total population	242.4 m	7.9 bn	331.9 m
GNP per capita	3,346 USD	12,026 USD	70,930 USD
Unemployment rate	12.3 %	6.2 %	5.3 %
Literacy rate	78.6 %	86.8 %	0.0 %
Electricity access	84.7 %	90.4 %	100.0 %
Birth rate	20.6 ‰	17.2 ‰	10.9 ‰
Life expectancy	71.8 years	72.3 years	77.3 years

Former rogue states

List of the 11 current Pariah States11 countries, that suffer from the sanctions of the international community because of their mostly autocratic government.

List of the world's most notorious tax havensTax havens magically attract money and hide it from the tax authorities. Even in the middle of Europe and the USA.

Comparison: Corruption worldwideThe poorer the worse: A ranking of corruption over 118 countries. USA ranks 23rd.