The Conflict

Terrorism has grown beyond extremist groups to also include radical states that sponsor or support terrorist activity as tools of their own foreign policy. A state sponsor is a government that supports an actor in the performance of an act or acts of terrorism. U.S. President George W. Bush stated in his 2002 State of the Union address that "States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world." Such words indicate the seriousness of and renewed attention directed at terrorism and those who sponsor it. In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the international community is placing intense scrutiny and pressure on state sponsors to end their support of terrorism. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Cuba, North Korea, and Sudan are the seven states currently designated by the United States as state...