Possessing a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, police are central to the establishment of state legitimacy, especially in a nation experiencing a radical reconstruction. Employing a multi-method examination of a police training academy in Iraqi Kurdistan, this study investigates how a nascent state attempts to secure hegemony in a post-conflict environment. Drawing upon literature of state legitimacy and empire, findings suggest the reconstruction is better understood as a cultural performance designed to project legitimacy for an imperial client state, helping explain the continued instability of the state and rise of dangerous non-state actors.