I agree, Peace. We are indeed entering an era of rogue states. It basically began when the Cold War ended, because without a relatively equal balance of power (checks and balances) in the world to keep things moderately stable things soon go totally haywire. It's the Wild West out there right now.

I remember Leonard Cohen saying in an interview when the Berlin Wall came down, "Everyone is celebrating right now, but they have no idea what's coming. It's going to be absolutely terrible what happens." He was not saying it because he was a fan of communism, he was saying it because he was farseeing enough to realize what would soon happen in various parts of Europe and the world in general, once the Soviets were gone. He was dead right. Look at what happened in Yugoslavia for just one spectacular example. And look at what has been happening in the Middle East.

This sort of thing often happens after the collapse of a great empire, because a huge power vacuum is created and a lot of ruthless, opportunistic people dare to do what they did not dare to do previously.