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Helena Reimer Burgrová

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Helena Reimer Burgrová Egypt’s Endless State of Emergency The “War on Terror” during the Reign of Husni Mubarak (1981-2011) Helena Reimer Burgrová Full copy of the thesis approved by the Department of Social Sciences and Public Affairs of the Bundeswehr University Munich for obtaining the doctoral degree Dr. phil. Advisors: Professor Dr. Stephan Stetter Professor Dr. Thomas Diez The doctoral thesis was submitted at the Bundeswehr University Munich on 26.06.2017 and accepted by the Department of Social Sciences and Public Affairs on 28.06.2017. The oral examination took place on 28.09.2017. Acknowledgments Writing this thesis was not an easy undertaking; this could not have been managed without support of others. I am especially grateful to my dissertation adviser, Stephan Stetter, who provided me with invaluable support throughout the many years of my doctoral research. He was always there for me with many helpful suggestions on how to structure my research and to develop my arguments. I am also grateful to Thomas Diez and his colleagues and students at the University of Tübingen for their comments. Many friends and colleagues in and outside of Egypt supported me while I wrote this thesis. Their insights, ideas, and encouraging listening to my arguments contributed positively to my work. I owe a special thank-you to my husband Sören, whose challenging comments and engaged discussions helped me to enhance my reasoning. My gratitude goes also to my family, who were very supportive of my studies. My research also benefited from the PhD scholarship granted by Konrad-Adenauer- Foundation that funded four years of my post-gradual studies. I am also appreciative of the superb language editing provided by Tanager. Berlin, 18.06.2017 Helena Reimer Burgrova Abstrakt Seit dem Attentat auf Präsident Anwar al-Sadat im Jahr 1981 wurde Ägypten unter Ausnahmezustand regiert. Diese außergewöhnliche Maßnahme, die als eine provisorische Maßnahme präsentiert worden war, wurde zur Norm. Der Ausnahmezustand war eine zentrale Stütze der autoritären Herrschaft Mubaraks (1981- 2011). Diese Dissertation fragt daher, wie der Ausnahmezustand zu einer permanenten Bedingung der soziopolitischen Realität in Ägypten geworden ist und in welchem Zusammenhang seine Permanenz mit der Resilienz der autoritären Herrschaft steht. Der Ausnahmezustand wurde mit der terroristischen Bedrohung gerechtfertigt. Deshalb ist diese Dissertation im Feld der Theorie der Versicherheitlichung situiert. Bezogen wird sich dabei sowohl auf die Paris- als auch auf die Kopenhagen-Schule der Versicherheitlichung-Theorie. Um die Versicherheitlichung als Teil von Governance- Prozessen verstehen und analysieren zu können, wird der Forschungsansatz mit Michel Foucaults Ideen zur Gouvernementalität und biopolitischer Optimierung sowie Giorgio Agambens Ideen zum Ausnahmezustand erweitert. Diese theoretische Kopplung bildet ein innovatives konzeptionelles Truth-Exception-Resistance-Modell (T-E-R-Modell). In dieser Dissertation wird die Versicherheitlichung als eine politische Strategie verstanden, die dazu dient, gesellschaftliche Kontrolle zu behaupten, indem das biopolitische Spektrum akzeptabler/inakzeptabler Formen des Lebens (re)-konfiguriert wird. Versicherheitlichungsprozesse legitimierten damit nicht nur exzeptionelle Maßnahmen gegen vermeintliche Terroristen, sondern wenden sich auch gegen weitere Individuen, etwa ägyptische Oppositionelle oder No-Name-Bürger, die nicht in die (re)- definierte Kategorie des optimierten Kollektivs passen. Es gibt zudem eine sich gegenseitig verstärkende Beziehung zwischen exzeptionellen Maßnahmen und aktiven Akteuren der Sicherheitsdurchsetzung. Die Stärkung der Sicherheitsoffiziellen, die durch die exzeptionellen Maßnahmen genähert wird, ist quasi unumkehrbar. Die Stärkung motiviert die Akteure des Sicherheitsfeldes, den Status Quo zu erhalten. Widerstand oder dessen Absenz berührt die Stabilität einer Versicherheitlichung, was auch die ägyptische Anti-Terror-Kampagne betrifft. Versicherheitlichung kann aufrechterhalten werden, solange sie nicht entschieden angegangen wird. Daher ist öffentliche Zustimmung keine notwendige Vorbedingung für das Fortdauern von Versicherheitlichung. Die Dissertation basiert auf einer Inhaltsanalyse arabischer Zeitungsartikel der Zeitung al-Ahram und Essays aus dem Polizeimagazin Magallat amn al-'am, die sich der Themen Terrorismus, Sicherheit und Ausnahmezustand widmeten. Zusätzlich werden auch Menschenrechtsberichte von ägyptischen und internationalen Organisationen analysiert. Die empirische Forschung wurde durch mehrere Forschungsaufenthalte vor Ort (2010, 2011) und Interviews mit prominenten ägyptischen Aktivisten (2013) vertieft. Abstract After the assassination of Anwar al-Sadat in 1981, Egypt was ruled under the state of emergency. The exceptional policy, initially introduced as a temporary measure, became the norm and a central pillar that underpinned the resilience of Mubarak’s authoritarian rule (1981-2011). This thesis thus asks: how did the state of emergency become a permanent condition of the Egyptian sociopolitical reality and how is its perpetuation related to resilience of the authoritarian Egyptian regime? The state of emergency was Justified on the grounds of a threat of terrorism which grounds the research conducted in this thesis in the field of securitization theory. The research, particularly, draws from two schools of securitization theory: Copenhagen and Paris. To address and analyze the securitization process as a part of wider processes of governance the research adds Michel Foucault’s thoughts on governmentality and biopolitical optimization as well as Giorgio Agamben’s conceptualization of the state of exception. The theoretical synthesis produces an innovative conceptual truth-exception-resistance model, the T-E-R model. This thesis views securitization as a political strategy to maintain societal control by (re)configuring the biopolitical bandwidth of (un)acceptable forms of life. Hence securitization not only legitimizes the exceptional treatment of perceived terrorists, but it also addresses and disqualifies individuals, including the Egyptian opposition and “no name” citizens, who do not fit into the (re)defined category of an optimized collective. There is also a mutually reinforcing relationship between the exceptional measures and the active actors in security enforcement. The empowerment of security officials, fostered through the exceptional measures such as the state of emergency, is hardly reversible. It motivates actors and institutions in the security field to uphold the existing securitization status quo. Resistance and/or lack thereof affects the persistence and perpetuation of a securitization process including Egypt’s counterterrorism campaign, too. Securitization can be sustained as long as it is not decisively contested. Thus, for securitization to persist, public approval is not a necessary precondition. The research is based on a content analysis of Arabic newspaper articles (al-Ahram) and essays from a police magazine (Magallat amn al-'am) dedicated to the topic of terrorism, security, and the state of emergency. In addition, human rights reports of Egyptian and international organizations that address torture, ill-treatment, and extra- Judicial killings, are also analyzed. The empirical research was further supported by several field trips (2010, 2011) and interviews with leading Egyptian activists (2013). Egypt’s endless state of emergency Content 1. The endless state of emergency.....................................................................................4 1.1. Sociopolitical and economic structure of Mubarak’s Egypt..................................5 1.2. Why study the state of emergency in Egypt?.........................................................7 1.3. How to study the state of emergency in Egypt......................................................8 1.4. The state of the art..................................................................................................9 1.5. Objectives of the thesis........................................................................................12 1.7. Note on transliteration..........................................................................................13 1.8. The structure of the thesis....................................................................................13 2. Securitization theory meets Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben..........................16 2.1. Studying security.................................................................................................17 2.1.2. Securitization as a routinized practice..........................................................21 2.1.2. Between exception and routine....................................................................22 2.1.3. From Copenhagen to Paris...........................................................................23 2.1.4. Paris and beyond..........................................................................................24 2.2. The conceptual framework...................................................................................26 2.2.1. The truth.......................................................................................................26 2.2.1.1. Optimizing a worthy us and an unworthy them...................................28 2.2.1.2. (Re)producing knowledge in the securitization context.......................29 2.2.1.3. Confirming the meaningfulness of security professionals...................31
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