Tunisia 2026
Politics Vanessa Szakal 17 August 2014

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Tunisia and Israel, Tunisia and the US

As much as Tunisia’s initial, post-independence, political transition was influenced by the extent and nature of economic support from the West, the success of the country’s waning post-revolution «democratic transition» is significantly impacted by the same US and EU powers. A misnomer that diminishes the scope and complexity of international alliances and enmities that it encompasses, the Arab-Israeli conflict bears greatly upon Tunisia’s relations with Western democracies, the primary prospective investors and financial backers of political transition in Tunisia for the past half century.

Politics Vanessa Szakal 11 August 2014

Marzouki’s Request: Rendering a «Possible Foreign Military Sale to Tunisia» Actual and Immediate

It is perhaps owing to the urgency of his message, the grave threats that political instability in Libya and regional terrorism pose to Tunisia’s political climate in these next three months, the potential dissipation of a democratic alliance in the MENA region, the very straightforward request for military training and equipment, and more specifically twelve Black Hawk helicopters, that Marzouki’s appeal has been so widely diffused across US and international media outlets.
What is pertinent to note is that Marzouki’s request is the precipitous disbursal of materials that the US has already promised Tunisia.

Environment Vanessa Szakal 21 July 2014

Djerba Desalination Plant Contract: Seawater Can be Purified, But Can Tunisia’s Water Management?

On the island of Djerba–where, «close to hotels, under the beautiful palms, on the beaches and surrounding the white houses, putrid piles of garbage pollute the air, the water, the land, and the lives of residents»–the local population may soon benefit from the construction of a new desalination plant that promises abundant, pure, sea-sourced desalinated drinking water.

Médias Vanessa Szakal 21 Jul 2014

Bon pays, Etat fragile : La Tunisie au révélateur des index

Plusieurs études viennent démontrer, aujourd’hui, la position qu’occupe la démocratie tunisienne par rapport à l’ensemble des pays de ce monde. En effet, prenant en compte plusieurs indicateurs, Le « Good Country Index » (l’indice des bons pays) et le « Fragile States index » (l’indice des pays fragiles) situent différemment la place occupée par la démocratie tunisienne au sein du monde.

Politics Vanessa Szakal 16 July 2014

Interventionism, Systematic Alignment Instill Political Divisiveness – and No Resolve for Gaza

In Tunisia, there is a great deal of skepticism regarding the competency and «responsible governance» of the interim government in juxtaposition with Tunisia’s international image as the ‘sole democracy in the Arab world’ as citizens sense that technocrats and politicians are incapable of rising above their own political and electoral trajectories to synchronise a unified, coordinated national response to aggression that is tantamount to a Palestinian holocaust.

Media Vanessa Szakal 12 July 2014

Good Country, Fragile State, the Arab World’s Sole Democracy : Tunisia by International Measures

Several comparative studies featuring Tunisia have recently caught our attention at Nawaat, and here we reflect on them conjunctively in the context of a sort of comparative examination of our own. The Good Country Index passes as the most engaging for its pragmatic persective and reassuring assertion that the index is one alternative perspective that is to be considered in conjunction other indices and analyses; the Fragile States Index is mildly interesting without presenting any strikingly revelatory insight, while two articles from The Economist that examine the so-called Arab World are flagrantly devoid of research- and critical thinking-based material for relevant, constructive discussion.

Politics Vanessa Szakal 09 July 2014

Moving the Masses to Reject Terrorism / Register to Vote

The interim government’s approach to addressing terrorism is a continual source of public discontentment, and heightened security issues have directly influenced citizenry’s reticence to participate in political processes, according to several La Presse and Nawaat reports. On the same day that the Ministry of National Defense reported on the Jebel Ouergha explosion, the High Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE) announced the markedly low turnout for voter registration.

Economy Vanessa Szakal 21 June 2014

Foreign Gas and Oil Companies Fuel Tunisia’s Hydrocarbon Industry

In contrast to what one hears on the streets about the dirth of natural resources that little Tunisia has to offer in the way of access to the global market, the cropping-up of press releases and studies in foreign press over the past decade or so intimate the titillation of petro-oil companies at prospects of investing in gas and oil exploration and production in the democratically-inclined ‘bright spot’ of the Arab World.

Environment Vanessa Szakal 06 June 2014

A ‘Win-Win’ Investment – OMV and ETAP Gazoduc-Nawara Project

In light of the implication of the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Energy, and Mines and the Tunisian National Oil Company in the mismanagement of natural resources, the notorious association of oil companies worldwide for politicization and economic corruption, and the immensity of intended exploration and production activities in the south of the country, the Gazoduc-Nawara project demands public attention.

Media Vanessa Szakal 31 May 2014

In the Name of National Security, ATT Poses Threat to Freedom of Expression, Separation of State Powers

Two recent articles from The International Business Times (New York) and Index on Censorship (a London-based organization that works to «protect freedom of expression around the world») resonate with the skepticism in publications from Tunisian media outlets and pose questions pertinent to national controversies that embody the challenges of post-revolution social and political transition.

Networks Vanessa Szakal 23 May 2014

‘US Promotes Network to Foil Digital Spying’ …while Sayada Builds Network to Foster Digital Justice

That the Mesh Sayada case study has been presented in the context of US surveillance operatives is relevant to one discussion but is meanwhile a superficial and imprecise presentation of the project for citizens who participated in its development and to whom it belongs. The mesh network was not brought to Sayada; it was built in Sayada as a locally-devised, collaboratively-implemented initiative to promote Open Source and Open Data principles.

Politics Vanessa Szakal 12 May 2014

One Hundred Days of Lentitude – Assessing Jomâa’s Work in Office

If its delivery is distinctive, the overwhelming message from public figures and ordinary citizens is the same: the gravity of the economic crisis—whether the exacerbated image of a political media campaign or an accurate portrayal of the country’s disequilibrium— is such that the Prime Minister has been called upon to transcend the drawn-out bickering of a politicized National Economic Dialogue, to take actions in measure with the severity of the situation that he has expounded in his discourse and communication with Tunisia and the international community, to devise a roadmap that sets out long-term, sweeping structural reforms.