The chapter proceeds by describing the IRA bombings as case studies, with an attempt to explain why commercial targets were selected during this period and the strategies involved. The most direct response of the British Government pertained to the issue of insurance, which was at once both a local and global issue. This chapter details the complex legislative response, followed by a commentary on how the strategy meshed with wider political and social considerations; how it worked in practice; and how further strategies, both political and policing, affected the outcome. Some consideration is given to the extent to which the individual, whether human or corporate, can demand a state response to insecurity, especially through invoking a claim to right. The authors observe that the nation-state cannot tolerate unaccountable expansions of responsibilities for security, and so it is the private sector, either commercially or individually, that becomes the increasingly important bearer of risk. In this way, there is a postmodern twist to the duties of public protection by the state, in that the recent era of terrorist bombings has also encouraged parallel private duties of protection, with a consequent development of private policing alongside public policing. 58 references