What Makes a Nation Evil?

With President Bush’s characterization of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an “axis of evil,” an obvious question arises: What makes a nation evil? Is it the evil nature of the ruler in a nation? Or is it the evil nature of the government itself? If it’s the government, does that mean that everyone who works for the government of an evil nation, including secretaries and janitors, is evil or only the people in high government positions? Or is it the people of the nation that make it evil? And if it’s the people of the nation, would that mean that all Iranians, Iraqis, and North Koreans are evil or just some of them? The other obvious question, of course, is: If the governments of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea begin doing the bidding of the U.S. government, as the Pakistani government (former supporter of the Taliban) is doing, would that automatically convert Bush’s “axis of evil” into three good and virtuous nations?