Axis of Evil

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

“Axis of Evil”

“Axis of Evil” was used by George W. Bush in his Jan. 2002 State of the Union Address to describe three countries engaged in terrorism: Iran, Iraq, and North Korea:

“States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.”