James R. Ball III is an assistant professor in the department of performance studies at Texas A&M University.

• Acknowledgments1. Introduction: "Big Heart, Tiny Legs I Guess" A Dramaturgy of International InstitutionsPerforming in a Theater of States 2. "Purpose is but the Slave to Memory" Narrative and History in the Security CouncilHamlet in the Security CouncilThe Security Council in Stuff Happens3. "To Be Seen is to Be Doomed" The Force of Spectatorship in UN PeacekeepingThe UN Interim Force in Lebanon and In a Kingdom by the SeaThe UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and RuinedSpectatorship and Global Governmentality         4. "The World of the Rulers is the World of the Spectacle" Time and Reiteration in Diplomatic SpeechAn Unfolding Present: Fun Home on BroadwayInsurrectionary SpeechCyclical Time: Obama's Disarmament Summit5. "To Receive an Impression is to Make an Impression" Clapping Along with the Secretary-GeneralInternational Happiness DayNew Year's Concert of the 67th Session of the General Assembly6. "Between One Person and Another" Interfacing with Institutions at the International Criminal CourtThe Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba GomboThe Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga DyiloCrossing Lines v. The International Criminal Court7. "No More Than a Piece of Paper" The Written Word in a Theater of StatesTranscript[Brackets]Model8. Epilogue: "On Notice" and "Taking Names"BibliographyNotes

Theater of State is an ambitious and compelling study that takes on the UN itself as a global platform for theorizing the performativity of diplomacy, peacemaking, and transnational justice." —Laura Edmondson, author of Performing Trauma in Central Africa