ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the contemporary global system is ripe with existential anxieties that are symptoms of momentous historical change. It argues that, for good or for ill, crime definition and control has become crucial to the transnational condition. As a consequence, criminological theories can be introduced into theoretical discussions about the nature of the contemporary global scene with fruitful results. The assertions of traditional international relations (IR) theory about the primacy of the state and national security discourse in the contemporary world system play out alongside other discussions concerning the location of sovereignty. Early IR theory focused attention on the conduct of states in a system of politics devoid of central authority. IR realism has its philosophical roots in Hobbesian 'state of nature' analogies and in social contract theories which come from Lockean-inspired thinkers. Realistic criminological practice focused on deterrence and its first recourse was 'zero tolerance policing'.
