What Makes A Pariah State?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 15 November 2018
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There are different routes to pariah status. North Korea, with its gross human rights abuses and illicit nuclear weapons programme tops the list and represents the classic pariah - completely ostracized from the international system. Another sure-fire way to become a pariah is to sponsor international terrorism, like Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya in the 20th century. But as his example shows, international rehabilitation can happen almost overnight. Then there are less clear cut pariahs like Zimbabwe, condemned by the West but very much part of the regional African system. Four expert witnesses examine these cases and explore whether the notion of a pariah state is meaningful in the 21st century multi-polar world. Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Lucy Proctor
(Photo: Ostracized /Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the inquiry on the BBC World Service with me Kavita Puri. |
| 0:05.2 | Each week, one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:20.0 | A Zimbabwean lecturer is leaving work. He's just finished giving a talk. |
| 0:22.0 | It's still warm in the evening in Harare |
| 0:24.3 | and he's looking forward to getting home. |
| 0:28.2 | He walks through the door |
| 0:29.7 | and hears on the evening news |
| 0:32.0 | that Britain's foreign secretary is calling Zimbabwe a pariah state. |
| 0:40.0 | Pariah State. |
| 0:42.0 | Dr Knox Jutio is shocked. Pariah State. |
| 0:43.0 | Dr Knox Jitieu is shocked. |
| 0:46.8 | Relations between Zimbabwe and the West had been bad, |
| 0:50.0 | but he never expected his country to be called that. |
| 0:53.0 | Pariah is a powerful word, emotive. |
| 0:58.0 | The implication he felt was that Zimbabwe was now beyond salvation. |
| 1:04.0 | That was 2002 and the |
| 1:08.0 | that was 2002 and the potency of the word today has not diminished. |
| 1:14.0 | But what makes the international community call a country a pariah state? |
| 1:20.0 | We started thinking about that question after the brutal murder of the Saudi journalist |
| 1:28.3 | Jamal Khashoggi. It's believed he was killed by Saudi agents while visiting his consulate in Turkey. |
| 1:37.2 | Saudi Arabia has also been accused of committing war crimes in Yemen and has a questionable human rights record towards its subjects, but it's |
| 1:46.5 | yet to be punished by its allies. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.