Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Tunisia’s broadly defined efforts to ban criticism of religion in Article 3 of its draft constitution are worrisome.
Tunisia’s Salafis are newly licensed political participants. How have they done so far?
The struggle for power within the Arab media is ongoing, with a generation gap that is widening by the day.
Rather than provide military aid to Egypt and Tunisia, the US should focus on reforming the security sector.
Tunisia’s 217-member Constituent Assembly must now write a constitution. What are the next stages of institutional reform?
Tunisia’s 217-member Constituent Assembly must now write a constitution. What are the next stages of institutional reform?
Following Tunisia's elections, the possibility of an increased role for the military in political decision-making is far-fetched.
While the final outcomes of the Arab transitions are far from over, one thing is certain: civil-military relations will be redefined and renegotiated in every country. Arab militaries will inevitably fulfill a more central role in politics, and formalizing this reality may be the only hope for consolidating democratic transitions.
Ennahda’s victory can be attributed as much to its campaign strategy as to the popularity of its message. In an election meant to level the political landscape, the party realized that direct engagement with voters (rather than advertising) was the key to victory.
Tunisians have toppled a dictator: but the opening of voter registration shows there are still many challenges that lie ahead on the road to democracy.
Ennahda, the previously banned Tunisian Islamist party, has entered the new era with a moderate political discourse. However, it faces several challenges and will have to clarify its position on the state's secularism.
While the popular revolution in Tunisia drew strength from its lack of leadership, the absence of a unified voice for the revolution has led to a an incoherent and muddled transition process.
The Tunisian revolution has fulfilled longstanding expectations that the youth bulge in Arab countries would eventually lead to political instability; it also showed that the weakness of opposition movements might be less significant than many observers believe.
Despite some steps to increase the appearance of pluralism, President Ben Ali and the ruling party are in no danger of losing upcoming elections. Still, elections provide a window through which a different political future might be glimpsed.
The National Solidarity Fund has succeeded in reducing poverty and building a culture of solidarity, despite limited political participation.
Is America serious about democracy and political reform in the Arab world? Does the neo-Wilsonian dimension of the Bush administration's policy toward the region presage a decisive departure from the longstanding realist policy of "regime maintenance"?
Tunisians took to the streets in February protesting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's scheduled visit to their country in November 2005 to attend the World Information Summit. Inviting Sharon, seen as a war criminal by many Tunisians and other Arabs, was an undemocratic decision by the Tunisian regime exercised against the popular will of the Tunisian people.
There is broad consensus in Washington that a "war of ideas" is a central component of the larger war on terror. And in this war, a prime target is the "poisonous" Arab media environment, particularly the new satellite television channels , which are blamed for spreading anti-American sentiment.
To the surprise of no one, on October 24 Tunisians turned out in record numbers—91.5 percent of the country's 4.6 million eligible voters—to re-elect President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali to a fourth consecutive five-year term. Voters also gave his ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD-Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique), an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections.