In his first State of the Union address in January 2002, George W. Bush offered up the expression “axis of evil” to describe the governments of Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Critics jumped on the US president for his belligerent rhetoric. But the problem with Mr Bush’s formulation was not his use of the term “evil”, an apt description of the regimes of Saddam Hussein, the Iranian mullahs and Kim Jong-il. The real issue was with the “axis” part. With his reference to the axis powers of the second world war, Mr Bush suggested some sort of alliance among them. His turn of phrase indicated a unitary problem and implied that, in taking on one, America would be dealing with all three.

Nearly five years later, we can see the damage caused by the president’s too-cute slogan and the muddled thinking behind it. By failing to distinguish clearly among the overlapping threats presented by rogue states, nuclear proliferators and supporters of terrorism, Mr Bush helped bring his own nightmare to life. Thanks to his foreign policy, many of the world’s dictators now function as a kind of anti-American co-operative, in a way they did not when he made that speech.