After police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd in 2020, a political uprising against police swept the country, and many observers labeled the often brutal police response “counterinsurgency.” But policing as counterinsurgency also preceded the uprisings. In this talk, Stuart Schrader will explain how police came to be central to counterinsurgency during the twentieth century. Further, the talk will analyze the global orientation of US police experts and how police have translated war-making techniques into ordinary urban policing routines. It will also explain how US policing remains global in scope and orientation today, while illustrating key moments of historical transition.

 Stuart Schrader is Associate Research Professor in the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he is also the Associate Director of the Program in Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship. He is the author of Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing (University of California Press, 2019), as well as numerous articles in The Baffler, n+1, Viewpoint Magazine, Washington Post, and elsewhere.