The first operation phoenix: U.S. colonial policing in the Philippines and the blood of empire -- "Popping off" Sandinistas and Cacos: police training in occupied Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua -- "Their goal was nothing less than total knowledge": policing in occupied Japan and the rise of the national security doctrine -- "Law in whose name, order for whose benefit?" police training, "nation-building" and political repression in postcolonial South Korea -- "Free government cannot exist without safeguards against subversion": the clandestine cold war in Southeast Asia I -- The secret war in Laos and other Vietnam sideshows: the clandestine cold war in Southeast Asia II -- "As I recall the many tortures": Michigan State University, Operation Phoenix, and the making of a police state in south Vietnam -- Arming tyrants I: American police training and the postcolonial nightmare in Africa -- Arming tyrants II: police training and neocolonialism in the Mediterranean and Middle East -- The dark side of the alliance for progress: police training and state terror in Latin America during the Cold War -- Conclusion : The violence comes full circle--From the Cold War to the War on Terror.