Copenhagen-Cairo on a Roundtrip: A security Theory meets the Revolution

Although securitization theory has been applied worldwide, it has been accused of having only limited appositeness to the non-Western world. When the Centre for Advanced Security Theory began a collaboration with the Danish–Egyptian Dialogue Institute and the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo in 2010, securitization theory was challenged on two levels: both through its employment to analyse and act politically in a Middle Eastern context, and through the attempt to do so during and after the Arab Spring, when the entire Egyptian security sector was being re-evaluated. These unique circumstances prompted reflections on the use of non-traditional and traditional security concepts, on how the Egyptian revolution could be understood through securitization theory, and on what the experiences of this project might mean for further theory development. This article discusses these points in the light of the Danish delegation’s experiences.