EU “support” for Tunisia: loans and free trade to remedy terrorism

With each measure of “support” the EU has offered Tunisia—whether in the form of a sizable loan for security reforms, or a free trade agreement for economic growth—particular emphasis has been placed on the recent successes and imperative role of civil society in the country’s path to democracy. But if what Tunisian civil society demands is a shifting of the scales and relations based on reciprocity, is Europe really prepared to listen?

ديزيرتيك: الإستيلاء على الطاقة المتجددة؟

يبدو أن خطة تزويد أوروبا بالطاقة من محطات الطاقة الشمسية في الصحراء قد توقفت، ولكن لا تزال العديد من المشاريع الشمسية الكبيرة في شمال أفريقيا تمضي قدما رغم المخاوف المحلية. الدكتورحمزة حموشان، يسأل: أين كان الخطأ في مشروع ديزرتيك، وهل يمكن للطاقة الشمسية من الصحراء أن تلعب الآن دورا في مستقبل ديمقراطي ومستدام؟

Weekly Political Review: Assassination of Chokri Belaid as a Dark Day in the Modern History of Tunisia

Picture this as a cryptic phenomenon in the modern history of Tunisia, a script that is currently being written by revolting masses. It is not one about the true start of this modern history in 1837 with Ahmed Bey’s access to power and the initiatives he undertook abolishing slavery, 18 years before the US, modernizing education by establishing the Saint Louis school in 1845, with its all-inclusive philosophy, giving equal access to modern means to Tunisia’s Muslims and Jews equally

Manifesto: Our Revolution Is Not a Rumor!

Today, a year and a half after Ben Ali’s flight, our fury continues to rumble. Ben Ali’s real and virtual allies in Tunisia and overseas, who were begging partnership in vain in most cases, managed to circumvent, distort, and erase the slogans of the Revolution from the collective memory as they removed the slogans of the Kasbah sit-in, for instance.

The Tragic Decline of Tunisian Media

“In the past, Tunisia made huge efforts to invest in journalism education. Unfortunately, the people who benefited from those efforts have been gradually prevented from serving their country according to the basic rules of journalism and ethics. Scores of skilled and honest journalists have been silenced and forced to leave their job or the country,” says Kamel Labidi

Ben Ali’s dictatorship is creating more Islamists

The deadly clashes in the suburbs of the Tunisian capital between security forces and Islamist gunmen at the end of December and in early January took by surprise those who were under the illusion that an Arab autocrat of Ben Ali’s ilk could learn anything from Ibn Khaldoun. According to official sources, the clashes left 12 gunmen dead and 15 under arrest […].