Pariah state

A pariah state (also called an international pariah or a global pariah) is a nation considered to be an outcast in the international community. A pariah state may face international isolation, sanctions or even an invasion by nations who find its policies, actions, or its very existence unacceptable. The scope of this article is a discussion of pariah statehood.

Until the past few centuries, the authority to designate a nation as an outcast, or pariah state, was relatively clear, often resting with religious authorities. (E.g., "the Ottoman Empire for example was regarded as an outcast by European States" since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 until the nineteenth century on a "religious basis.") In more recent times, however, the criteria for and attached implications of pariah statehood, as well as the designating authorities, are the subject of much disagreement. For example, the Nigerian scholar Olawale Lawal has stated:

By some criteria, nations can be considered pariahs within their own neighborhood of surrounding states. By others, an international body (such as the United Nations) or perhaps a consensus among certain nations may govern the meaning or use of the term.

The word "pariah" derives from Paraiyar, a large indigenous tribal group of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Under the caste system, the Paraiyar were members of the lowest caste, which were called the "outcastes" by the English Imperial rulers of India. Since its first recorded use in English in 1613, cultures worldwide have accepted the term "pariah" to mean "outcast".

A pariah state, defined in its simplest terms, is an outcast state. This is not a new term in the lexicon of International Relations, nor is it a new historical concept. What is new, however, is what Lawal refers to as "the basis for Pariahood appellation." Other definitions have been advanced that expand this basis (see next section below), or perhaps add more academic nuance, which may vary by author or the author's field of study. These definitions are here grouped into two categories: definitions focusing on the lack (or disadvantage) the pariah state objectively suffers from, and definitions focusing on the political justification - given by other nations - for why that pariah state "deserves" their extraordinary attitude towards it.

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