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This article examines the case of Kosovo as an important precedent in the development of practices of policing beyond borders–whereby military and policing practices are extended beyond borders with the aim of producing security at a distance. It examines how these practices, led by the global north, implemented as a result of humanitarian military interventions actually worked locally inKosovo, placing it in the wider theoretical context of Foucault’s work on the continuum between war and law, and critically challenging the representation of the international as a space of law and justice(MacMillan, 2016). It argues that even if the representations of crime and justice have a crucial function in expanding practices of policing beyond borders, contributing to exporting liberal forms of criminaljustice to foreign countries to build peace and a liberal society, and support for international criminaljustice, the results are far from straightforward. It suggests that these practices of policing beyondborders may be contributing to the production of hybrid forms of policing in which violent contestationsto policing and criminalization are prevalent, rather than integration of different forms of justice. Thisaspect be the re-emergence of war within legal processes but may also be seen as attempts to void theestablishment of the liberal peace and of law.

This paper shows how the notion of punishment has been invoked by former US President George W. Bush, and ex UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to represent war. It is suggested that in this context, the notion of punishment serves different objectives: legitimizing violence, suggesting the sovereign role taken by the US and highlighting the emergence of new sensibilities. Building on previous literature in criminology and international relations it examines points of contact between two previously distinct security mechanisms - war and punishment- and suggests possible effects of this discursive blurring. It highlights not only the need for criminologists to engage with international relations literature but also the need to evaluate closely the different nature of the international context.