Tag: tunisia

Who Lost the Middle East?

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, especially today in the Maghreb and Middle East. For the ouster of Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has sent shock waves from Rabat to Riyadh. Autocrats, emirs, and kings have to be asking themselves: If rioters can bring down Ben Ali with his ruthless security forces, … Continue reading “Who Lost the Middle East?”

What’s Going on in Tunisia?

The dethronement of Tunisian strongman Ben Ali, and his flight to Saudi Arabia, has our media conjuring visions of a powerful upsurge of “democratic” populism in what was previously thought of as a minor backwater, famous for its beaches and little else. A friend of the West, Ben Ali was the spitting image of his … Continue reading “What’s Going on in Tunisia?”