The inclusion of women, especially Islamists as the largest group of victims, is important for the overall success of transitional justice and to ensure that women’s rights will not be eroded in Tunisia.
The future state of Tunisian politics is difficult to predict, but it is clear that addressing pressing socio-economic problems is vital for the success of the transition and for the reconciliation of society.
US intervention in the Arab world is still predicated on the same foundations that determined the courses of US foreign policy during the Cold War. With the Arab Spring, US intervention is likely to continue and expand.
The so called “Arab Spring” has been a popular notion in American media. US academics, journalists and politicians speak of the most recent Middle Eastern revolutionary movements as a single and similar wave of reform that they deem as one that could be defined along racial lines. Not only is this approach methodically flawed, but it also overrides a sense of remarkable national pride for individual nations.
From the social uprising that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regime in Tunisia on January 11, 2011, to the recent social unrest in Libya to oust the 40 year old reign of Muammar Gadhafi, many political scientists have been left puzzled as to reasons behind the North African revolutionary movement and where it could spread in the coming weeks.
It was the first cyber-revolution, but it probably won’t be the last. While in the past it was more than common for leaders to rule their people through fear and threat, with increased education and accessibility to the internet, authoritarian leaders and dictators like Ben Ali will hopefully soon be known only in history.
With the cascading events in Tunisia, there has been much debate about whether or not this represents a real revolution. The question is clearly important. Much of the debate seems to focus on whether or not Tunisia will move out of an autocratic system of government and into a liberal democracy. But whatever the eventual political outcome, Tunisians have already experienced a real revolution.
The “Tunisian wind”, stirred by the popular uprising that swept President Ben Ali of Tunisia from power on 15 January 2011, is inspiring the Arab world from Bahrain to Morocco. Ordinary people in their hundreds of thousands have joined activists in street protests. They seek bread, housing, livelihoods, dignity, freedom and justice.
Following many other Middle Eastern and North African leaders Ben Ali sustained his power through repression, fear, and censorship. His downfall through popular protests stunned the world. However, there is still no guarantee for a new chapter in Tunisian politics.
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