This paper contributes to International Relations literature that studies how contemporary neoliberal governance works through everyday popular culture practices. It also draws from postcolonial approaches that account for how actions in the 'periphery' are significant in explaining how neoliberalism is shaped and spread. In it, I analyze the gendered dynamics of Western tourism in Cairo, looking at how tourism practices reinforce representations of the Arab/Muslim male in Western popular culture and in counter-terrorism discourses. I argue that, by doing so, Western tourism functions to reproduce contemporary neoliberal subjectivities and policies, both within Cairo and between states. More specifically, I use ethnographic and discourse analytic methods to examine tourism in Khan al Khalili market, projects to stop sexual harassment in Cairo, and representations from the Western media, popular culture, and counter-terrorism policies. I analyze how these practices articulate to reproduce neoliberal heirarchies and (in)securities at urban, national and international scales.
