Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Despite curbing polarization and driving the country out of political impasse, negotiations between political elites raised Tunisians’ fears of a regression of the revolutionary tide.
Four factors help explain how Tunisia was able to reach a landmark political compromise and put its democratic transition back on track.
A critical look at the dynamics of activism in the Arab world since the Arab uprisings of 2011 and the interplay between the domestic and regional contexts in different Arab countries.
Without the muscular involvement of a powerful labor union, it is unlikely that Tunisia’s remarkable political settlement would have come about.
In a landmark step, Tunisia’s Islamic and secular political forces reached accord on a constitution that provides a foundation for Tunisia’s transition to democracy. But while progress has been made, the country still faces serious economic and political challenges ahead.
Throughout the Middle East, the overthrow of Egypt’s Mohamed Morsi has heightened Islamist-secularist tensions and pushed actors toward zero-sum politics.
At the third anniversary of the Arab Spring uprisings, the state of play in the Middle East and North Africa is cause for concern. But is it all as somber as it looks?
Tunisia and Morocco are stuck between competing secularist and Islamist conceptions of the true and ideal nation and the role of religion in it.
To truly move Tunisia forward, Islamist and secular forces must address the country’s socioeconomic problems that breed unrest and angry radicals.
Tunisia's draft constitution is turning into a text full of contradictions, reflecting the divided nature of Tunisian society.