Quora Answer: What Does It Take for a Nation to be Considered a Terrorist State?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What does it take for a nation to be considered a terrorist state?”

One nation’s terrorist is another nation’s freedom fighter. Thus, one nation’s terrorist state is another nation’s ally.  There is no nation that is universally considered a terrorist state.  Even North Korea, the most pariah of states, has nominal allies in China and Russia.  Generally, for a nation to be considered a terrorist state by another, it must be thought to be a financial, political, and military sponsor of the nation’s political enemies, a proscribed terrorist group. Sometimes, there is no proof, just an accusation.

That accused sponsor state is then put on a sanctions list by the state and her allies.  Terrorism is the execution of politics by other, less savoury means.  The accusation of a terrorist state is aligned with the interest of the state accusing.  For example, to the US and her allies, Iran is a terrorist state, because of her sponsorship of Hezbollah, which they consider a terrorist group.  However, the US does not accuse Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE of the same for their sponsorship of ISIS, because ISIS was a useful proxy to overthrow Syria, another “terrorist” state.  If, on the other hand, this is viewed from the other side, this would be reversed.