In this original, provocative new book, Stuart Price identifies a practice that lies at the core of the western security regime - the worst-case scenario. This consists of the projection of a significant material threat, used to bolster the security agenda of the neoliberal state. Using a wide range of official sources and case studies, from 9/11 to the Stockwell shooting, Price analyses the manoeuvres of the security regime as it attempts to reproduce a 'command structure' within civil society.