Jean-Pierre Cassarino, “Confidence-building in Tunisia after the Popular Uprising: Strategies and Dilemmas”, IAI Working Papers 11/04, February 2011, Rome. (original) (raw)

The Tunisian Revolution: An Opportunity for Democratic Transition

IAI Working Papers, No. 11|02 (January 2011), ISBN 978-88-98042-01-2, 2011

Owing to its macroeconomic achievements, for decades Tunisia projected an image of stability to the world and distinguished itself from other Arab countries for its progress in the areas of economic growth, health, education and women’s rights. This widely held view of apparent stability was shattered on January 14, when President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country after high levels of unemployment and inequalities resulted in widespread chaos and social unrest. Events in Tunisia raise sharp questions regarding the country’s current situation and its future prospects and, more generally, the often taken-forgranted sustainability of many regimes of the Middle East and the policies of the European Union towards the region.

The Tunisian Revolution: An Opportunity for Democratic Transition. MEDPRO Commentary, 24 January 2011

2011

or decades Tunisia projected an image of stability to the world and distinguished itself from other Arab countries for its macroeconomic achievements and progress in the areas of economic growth, health, education and women's rights. This widely held view of apparent stability was shattered on January 14 th , when President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country amid widespread chaos and social unrest caused by high levels of unemployment and inequality. Events in Tunisia sound alarm bells not just for this country and its future but for many regimes of the Middle East, the sustainability of which is often taken for granted. The policies of the European Union towards the region are now also thrown into question.

Transformation in Tunisia: The First Five Years (ed.)

Over the past six years, Tunisia has been testing new avenues of political order. Democratic institutions have emerged, underpinned by a new constitution. However, the entrenched elites defend their acquired taste for preferential treatment, slowing down democratisation in the name of fighting jihadist terror. Weak economic growth and persistent regional disparities continue to fuel discontent, translating into frustration with the expected results of the democratic experiment. On top of that, rifts between Islamists and non-Islamists tend to polarise politics, making it difficult to chart a consensual way forward. Overall, the transition features several elements of hybridity and fragility, remaining in many aspects a work in progress and producing a significant number of uncertainties, in instances where the state should lead and reassure. Accordingly, institutional consolidation risks being undermined by growing contempt for the state and the emerging political system. Against this complex backdrop of issues, the Joint Policy Study provides an overview of the essential features and challenges of the transition, crystallised in four pivotal problem areas, each covered by renowned subject matter experts.

Tunisia's President's Bets and Internal and External Challenges

Abdullah Jbour, 2022

Tunisia's political system has undergone major transformations since the events of the Republic Day (25 July 2021) when President Kais Saied undertook extraordinary measures, issuing authorities in the country, dismissing the House of Representatives, dismissing the Government and making a new politically depoliticized Government, drafting a new constitution for the country and a new election law, Many wonder where Tunisia is headed? What is the President's project that he intends to implement? What is the fate of the country's political society and the future of democracy? What are the sources of power and mechanisms of new governance? Would the Tunisian army have a role in politics? Does Saied succeed in establishing a new political system that satisfies Tunisians and reflects positively on their standard of living? What impact has the new Totalitarianism had on the Tunisian regime?

BRIEF POLICY Tunisia: A conservative revolution

Five years have passed since Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation and Ben Ali's departure, and ambivalence prevails in the representations and perceptions of Tunisia. While the international community celebrates Tunisia as the Arab world's sole example of a successful transition towards democracy, Tunisian citizens are disillusioned with the unfinished democratisation process, sapped by terrorism, unemployment and unrelenting corruption. Putting aside the oversimplistic categories of success or failure, this paper offers a review of the social and political changes that have been achieved since 2011. It contextualises historical developments that have thrown Tunisia into turmoil since the "Arab Spring", in order to give a more accurate picture of specifically the Tunisian trajectory.