Publication

For decades Tunisia projected an image of stability to the world and distinguished itself from other Arab countries for its macroeconomic achievements and progress in the areas of economic growth, health, education and women's rights. This widely held view of apparent stability was shattered on January 14th, when President Zine El‐Abidine Ben Ali fled the country amid widespread chaos and social unrest caused by high levels of unemployment and inequality. Events in Tunisia sound alarm bells not just for this country and its future but for many regimes of the Middle East, the sustainability of which is often taken for granted. The policies of the European Union towards the region are now also thrown into question.