Axis Of Evil

State Sponsors of Terrorism
The current list of State Sponsors of Terrorism are Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. International talks with North Korea in February 2007 paved the way for the removal of North Korea from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Libya is being removed from the list in mid-2006. Syria is the oldest member of the list, having been placed there in 1979.

Rogue States
At the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Soviet bloc countries were no longer enemies of the United States. Thus came the development of the list of "Rogue States," which included North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Libya. Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya would no longer be considered part of this list (due to U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and the mid-2006 restoration of full diplomatic relations with Libya).

Axis of Evil
In 2002, Bush announced the "Axis of Evil," in his State of the Union, consisting of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Since the invasion of Iraq, it would not be considered part of this list and the Axis of Evil should today include just Iran and North Korea.

Beyond the Axis of Evil
In May 2002, Under-Secretary of State John Bolton (later U.N. Ambassador) gave a speech which listed the three Axis of Evil members (Iraq, Iran, and North Korea) along with Libya, Syria, and Cuba as part of the "beyond the Axis of Evil" as countries having the potential of using Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Outposts of Tyranny
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice listed in a speech the six anti-American countries that are the "Outposts of Tyranny." These include Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Belarus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar (called Burma by the U.S. government).

Axis of Terror
The most recent axis was identified in April 2006 by Dan Gillerman, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, who identified the "Axis of Terror" as Iran, Syria and the Palestinian government.