Source: WNYC Takeaway
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize to a coalition of labor union leaders, businesspeople, lawyers, and human rights activists in recognition of their efforts to negotiate a peaceful end to the political crisis in Tunisia in 2013-14. Speaking on WNYC Takeaway with John Hockenberry, Carnegie’s Sarah Chayes explained who these groups were, how they achieved this breakthrough, and why the regional and local political context of the Arab Spring was key to the process. She pointed out that Tunisia’s political leaders after the Arab Spring had little experience in negotiation and revealed how the labor and business leaders taught the political leaders to resolve their differences peacefully. In addition, the government crackdown on Islamists in Egypt following the fall of President Morsi in Egypt as well as a number of assassinations of leftist political leaders in Tunisia spurred the resolution of the crisis, Chayes explained.