Tunisia

Summary: for years, Dubai was known as a place where fugitives could disappear behind the city’s wealth, skyscrapers and international connections. Increasingly, it is becoming the opposite: a place where foreign governments can have people arrested and sent home.

Summary: although the expansion of this year’s World Cup finals to 48 countries proved to be a success, advantages specific to its three host nations simply do not apply to Saudi Arabia’s solo hosting of the 2034 tournament even if FIFA rejects proposals to expand again to 64 participants.

Summary: stock exchange exuberance belies the dire straits of the Tunisian economy.

Summary: the MENA’s youth bulge and the highest youth unemployment rates globally poses major challenges for much of the region now and in the future.

Summary: Western pressure to disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon, framed as a technical fix for sovereignty and stability, is a neo-colonial imposition that ignores the group’s deep political and social roots. By overlooking Lebanon’s sectarian realities and historical grievances, this external demand risks further fracturing the country rather than healing it.

Summary: in December 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi a Tunisian street vendor self-immolated in protest at the dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The Jasmine Revolution and with it the Arab Spring began. On 14 January 2011 Ben Ali fell. 15 years later a Gen Z Tunisian reflects on the revolution: what has been won and what has been lost.

Summary: Egypt’s garment sector has been a major beneficiary of the US tariffs - coupled with its low labour costs - versus its neighbouring competitors, while Jordan has had a tougher time due to the Red Sea crisis. Egypt is on its way to being the region’s garment manufacturing hub, but export goals of $20 billion by 2030 seem rather ambitious.

Summary: Tunisia’s president rode to power in 2019 on a tidal wave of Millennial votes; six years later he has failed to deliver on their hopes and a younger cohort, the GenZs, less imbued with the idealism of the 2011 Revolution are taking to the streets with concrete demands.

Summary: the latest arrest of a leading Tunisian businessman underlines the folly of President Kais Saied. His actions, under the banner of ending corruption, are further stressing an economy already heavily damaged under his autocratic regime.

Summary: as GenZ protests continue to roil Morocco a young Tunisian reflects on what those protests mean for her and other GenZs in Tunisia.

Summary: Tunisia, once hailed as a model of economic management, has plummeted into a severe economic crisis, marked by declining foreign investment and a disappearing presence in international benchmarking reports.

Summary: the Syrian revolution's success in ousting tyranny is merely a first step; its enduring viability hinges on empowering the populace and strategically navigating complex internal and external pitfalls. Sustaining this momentous achievement requires a delicate balance of ideological constants and flexibility, prudent management of hard and soft power, and robust societal resilience against counter-revolutionary forces, all while embracing a measured pace for profound societal change.