Zack, Jenn, and Jen Kirby discuss the political crisis gripping Tunisia following the president’s decision to fire the prime minister and suspend parliament. Tunisia was the big “success story” of the Arab Spring: the one country whose revolution produced a real, albeit rocky, transition to democracy — a democracy that is now in crisis. The gang explains what’s going on, what it all means for Tunisia’s future, and how — or whether — the international community should respond.

References:

Tunisia’s president fired its prime minister and suspended parliament

Is what happened in Tunisia a coup?

A helpful timeline outlining Tunisia’s democratic transition

Tunisia’s imperfect democracy was still a model, wrote Sarah E. Yerkes in 2019

Foreign Policy on the problem with calling Tunisia the Arab Spring’s “lone success story”

Bloomberg’s Hussein Ibish on why this crisis is testing Tunisia’s political divisions

The US secretary of state’s Tunisia tweets

Hosts:

Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, Vox

Jennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), senior foreign editor, Vox

Jen Kirby (@j_kirby1), foreign and national security reporter, Vox

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