Plagues of Egypt – the COVID-19 crisis and the role of securitization dilemmas in the authoritarian regime survival strategies in Egypt and Turkey
- Michaela Grančayová
Abstract
The research looks into the authoritarian regime survival strategies in Egypt
and Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it examines how
the autocratic rulers in both countries dealt with the securitization dilemma
caused by the coronavirus outbreak. It applies securitization theory and the
concept of selective securitization to argue that although both Abdel Fattah
el-Sisi’s and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule were at some point expected to be
shaken by the pandemic, the COVID-19 securitization dilemmas had an
important role in helping to prolong the autocratic directions of their
respective countries. Additionally, the article demonstrates that the
securitization of the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt and Turkey follows a
certain political pattern where every crisis constitutes an opportunity for
expanding the regimes’ powers at the expense of citizens’ rights.
Keywords
authoritarianism, COVID-19, discurcive hegemony, Egypt, monopolization, regime survival strategies, securitization, securitization dilemma, selective securitization, Turkey
Author Biography
Michaela Grančayová
Michaela Grančayová is a PhD student at the Faculty of Social and Economic
Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. She earned her
master’s degree in Translation and Interpreting (Arabic Language and
Culture, and English Language and Culture) from the Faculty of Arts of
Comenius University. In her PhD thesis, she deals with the role of Egyptian
women in the democratization processes within the Arab Spring. Among
the topics of her interest are the Arab Spring, Arab feminism, autocratic
regimes, the Middle East, modern trends in Islam, Islamophobia, populism,
radicalism, securitization theory and Muslim women in European politics.