After five years of investigating cases of corruption and human rights abuses under former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission is concluding its mandate, though many say there is still much more to do.
Sectarianism has become a destructive feature of the modern Middle East. But endless bouts of sectarian violence and religious conflict in the region are not inevitable. A new RAND study examines what makes communities resilient to sectarianism. Strong levels of trust, social connections, and physical proximity across sectarian lines are important. These factors help prevent communities from sliding into sectarianism when conflict emerges. Read more »
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Eight years after the Tunisian Revolution that sparked the Arab Spring, Tunisia's transition to democracy remains complex, unfulfilled and at risk.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party, discusses the forthcoming elections and how Ennahda has shaped post-revolution politics in Tunisia.
A Simple Guide to Complexity for National Security Professionals
By Zachery Tyson Brown, Strategy Bridge: “The point of recounting the events surrounding the Arab Spring is not that any of them were the cause of the others. Asking why the cascade of popular movements occurred when it did is the wrong question, because it assumes ultimate causation is even knowable in complex systems. This is known as the fallacy of the single cause or causal reductionism. Causal reductionism attempts to draw linear relationships from cause to effect. ”
Ross Harrison writes: Power dynamics between the major global and regional powers have indirectly influenced the civil wars currently plaguing the Middle East. By analyzing the impact of the Cold War, its end, and the regional and domestic dynamics it produced, this paper argues that the shift in the distribution of power caused by end of the Cold War, as well as the resulting American unipolarity, facilitated the creation of two opposing camps, one comprising the U.S. and its allies and the other an “axis of resistance.” – Middle East Institute