In this innovative study of performance in international relations, James R. Ball III asks why states and their representatives come to the United Nations to perform for a global audience and how those audiences may intervene in the spectacle of global politics. Theater of State looks at key spaces in which global politics play out: in debating forums of the UN, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and in peacekeeping operations in Africa and the Middle East, as well as in a variety of related media productions. Ball argues that culture and politics form a unified field organized by the theatricality of its actors and the engaged spectatorship of its audiences. He provides a theory of global political spectatorship: of how the world watches itself in institutions and beyond, and of what citizens and diplomats do by watching.
 
This study of the lived experience of spectacular politics on the world stage draws on theories of theater, performance, and politics to offer new ways of approaching issues of war, cosmopolitanism, international justice, governance, and activism. Situated at the nexus of two disciplines, performance studies and political science, this volume encourages conversations between the two so that each might offer lessons to the other.

JAMES R. BALL III is an assistant professor of performance studies at Texas A&M University.

​“Bydecoding the UN's and ICC's theatricality, Ball argues convincingly that dramaturgy is constitutive of their work, and by avoiding a deep tread into the weeds of theory, he does so in such a way that could connect with a broad audience . . . Theater of State impresses in insight and execution.”—Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism

​“Theater of State convincingly demonstrates that theatricality is far more than simply a metaphor by which we can understand the work of international diplomacy. Rather, it is a means by which both aesthetics and politics effect real consequences in the world . . . an excellent contribution to larger conversations about theatre, performance, and governmentality.”—The Drama Review   ​“Theater of State is a call to action. In a time of social media overload and the spectacularization of global politics, this project provides a nuanced understanding of the theatricality of politics, calling on artists, activists, academics, and anyone interested in change to consider interventions that lean into the theatrical turn . . . as we continue to witness the spectacularization of global politics, Ball reminds us that there are critical points for dissensus and that theatre can mobilize publics and highlight omissions to hold states and international bodies like the UN accountable.”—Theatre Journal

“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— -