Much of the work written on Global South security states focuses on the role of the police and security apparatuses in the disciplining, control and exclusion of ‘problematic’ populations, with a focus on human rights and citizenship. In this talk Professor Mullin will also consider some of the productive dimensions of national security - as ideology, policy and practice. In particular, Professor Mullin will examine the role of Tunisia's national security state in (re)producing the stratified vulnerabilities required for colonial-capitalist exploitation, value extraction and wealth drain, with a focus on labor, natural resources, debt and border militarization. As part of this analysis, Professor Mullin will also theorize the location of Tunisia’s security state within an imperial security architecture designed to maintain existing structural inequalities both within and across states.