There isn’t much good news coming out of the Arab world nowadays—civil war in Syria and Libya, state failure in Yemen, sectarian repression in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and the struggle against the Islamic State and radical Shi’ite militias in Iraq—but Tunisia is increasingly becoming a consistent exception to the rule.
Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring. After overthrowing dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisians had a rough couple of years: Ben Ali stole billions, and it has been a constant struggle to recover even a fraction of those lost resources. The root of the Arab Spring was a desire for economic and political accountability, but the achievement of that is easier said than done. Throw into the mix the collapse of state control in Libya and the flood of Libyan weapons and refugees throughout the region, and Tunisia seemed to be buffeted by, if not in the midst, of a perfect storm. As the Egyptian-American sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim characterized it, in the decades before the Arab Spring, political organization devolved into a competition between the autocrats and theocrats; any more liberal group that sought to occupy the space in between ended up attacked by both sides.
Perhaps, then, it shouldn’t have surprised that Ennahda, a staunch Islamist grouping, won an initial victory in post-Arab Spring Tunisia, taking 89 of 217 seats in the October 2011 assembly elections; the next highest vote-getter won only 29 seats. This raised concern both inside Tunisia and abroad that Tunisia would be but the latest example of the “one man, one vote, one time” dynamic so common in the Middle East. But Tunisians kept up the pressure. In this brilliant stunt, a Tunisian NGO reminded people what the cost of apathy might be.
However, unlike Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated president who became Egypt’s first democratically elected ruler as the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties dominated Egypt’s initial elections, Ennahda to its credit learned that Tunisians had no desire to experience tyranny of the majority and have religious precepts shoved down their throats. Accordingly, it agreed to power sharing and eventually new elections. COMMENTARY’s own Max Boot was an election observer last autumn in Tunisia, as Tunisians flocked to the polls to elect a new parliament; he wrote up his experience here. In the months since, Tunisians have flocked to the polls to elect a president, and then a run-off to confirm the victor.
Now it appears that the Tunisians are getting further recognition for their gains. Freedom House recently released its new freedom in the world ranking, and Tunisia has made history as the first Arab country to be granted a “free” ranking. (In the past, the freest Muslim majority state was actually Mali, but the coup and civil war there ended that streak.) That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement; there most certainly is, as Freedom House itself notes. That said, it’s important to give credit where credit is due—and much is due to the Tunisian people.
Many observers and diplomats dismiss the idea of Arab democracy as impossible; they embrace cultural relativism and suggest that Arab culture simply doesn’t allow and won’t tolerate freedom. At best, they warn, it will descend into extremism and violence as in Gaza, Syria, and Libya. Diplomats often point to such examples as an excuse to never push for reform in the first place.
But Tunisia is an exception to the rule and can no longer be so easily dismissed. Rather than embrace the mediocre, it is a reminder that Arab states should be held to the same standards as non-Arab states; they should be pressured to reform and supported when they do. Who knows? Tunisia may be first, but there is no reason why it should be last.
