The list of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s misdeeds is overwhelming. Besides shunning international weapons inspectors, seeking to obtain nuclear missiles, torturing political prisoners and starving his own people, Hussein “has already used poison gas to murder thousands” of native Iraqis, as Bush noted.

By acknowledging the inherent evil and potential danger of these three rogue states, Bush gave them a clear and uncompromising message: America is watching you, and after Sept. 11 we will no longer tolerate your nefarious actions.

Apparently, the message has been received in Pyongyang. James Hoare—Britain’s top North Korean envoy—claims that North Korea is now especially concerned “that the doctrine applied to Afghanistan could be applied to other countries,” and they wish to reopen discourse with the United States. In other words, they fully realize the seriousness of the Bush administration—a “seriousness” that could adversely affect them if they don’t move quickly.

The president’s moral clarity is refreshing and more than a little “Reaganesque.” Bush realizes that making demands of these malevolent regimes is not—to borrow a Reagan phrase—“cultural imperialism,” but rather an honest attempt to affect progressive change and protect the political institutions, infrastructure and people of the free world.

His “axis of evil” speech will surely go down as a landmark event in the history of American diplomacy. He has inaugurated a new climate of honesty and reinvigorated the potential of our foreign policy.

And by doing so, Bush has passed the “Reagan test” with flying colors.

Duncan M. Currie ’04, a Crimson editor, is a history concentrator in Leverett House.