ABSTRACT
Washington is once again in the grip of “rogue mania.” The recent alarms sounded about Iran as a potential nuclear power are the latest manifestations of US policy-makers’ obsession with a handful of “rogue states,” which are portrayed as major threats to US and Western security. These countries, particularly Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria and North Korea, have become the dominant enemy image in Washington. All but unknown a few years ago, the rogue-state doctrine enjoys bipartisan support in Congress and is being pushed by a politically defensive White House. Unless it is tempered by domestic or international developments, it could embroil the United States in a Gulf War-like military clash with a rising Third World power. It also serves to sustain military spending at Cold War levels at a time when social programs are being severely cut.
