The deep state in Egypt: The politics of a concept in the post-revolutionary era

This article examines how the idiom of the ‘deep state’ (al-dawla al-‘amiqa) functioned as a political resource in Egypt’s post-2011 struggles over authority, legitimacy, and responsibility. Rather than adjudicating whether a coherent deep state exists as an institutional entity, the study analyzes how competing actors deployed the term to frame crises, attribute blame, justify interventions, and delimit the boundaries of political transition. Drawing on Egyptian newspapers, political speeches, and opposition writings, it traces the evolving uses of the concept across four conjunctures: the SCAF-led transition, the Morsi presidency, the 2013 overthrow, and the consolidation of ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi’s rule. Across these phases, the deep state emerged as a performative discursive resource through which actors sought to reallocate responsibility, stabilize or contest authority, and construct rival claims to guardianship of the state. By situating the concept within the contentious politics of authoritarian restoration, the article shows that discursive constructions of the deep state did not merely reflect political struggles but functioned as a resource for reconfiguring legitimacy, authority, and responsibility, thereby reinforcing existing alignments and constraining alternatives in post-revolutionary Egypt.