Tunisia was once promoted as a success story of the Arab Spring, has fallen victim to terrorism. The attack has demonstrated the myths and fallacies of the so called "revolutions" spreading across North Africa and the Middle East. The attack at the beach in Sousse was just another example of destabilization of the region as a whole. From December 2010 to 2011 mass disorder and chaos had been common following regime changes. These were not revolutions, but collapse of governments. Libya was in reality invaded by NATO. Egypt's government was in a state of decay, but the authoritarian elements promptly reasserted themselves. Tunisia's regime change was by comparison peaceful, but the fallout from neighboring countries is now affecting the security situation. Libya has become a base for terrorist groups, while the Sinai peninsula of Egypt has seen conflict. Algeria has had a long history of terrorist incidents and they were revived with the Amenas hostage crisis. Tunisia was clearly trapped in the crossfire of violence. To western observers Tunisia seemed stable, but the foundation was fragile. Tunisia had a troubled past and terrorism will not disappear anytime soon.
Tunisia became independent in 1956. Like other North African countries it was formally under the domination of the French. Habib Bourguiba was elected president after the fall of the Husainid Bey monarchy. Bourguiba soon embarked on policies that would radically alter the nation. While his socialist reforms did improve the status of women and advanced education, it resulted in cultural conflict. The conservative Islamic elements of society rejected Bourguiba's Kemalist and western oriented political reforms. Islamic courts were replaced, religious schools were secularized, and encouraged some to halt the Ramadan fast if it affected productivity. The backlash from this created the seeds for extremist ideology. Around 1978 there were mass arrests of Islamic fundamentalists, leftists, and political dissidents. The authoritarian nature of Tunisia just made Islamic fundamentalism grow as a way to oppose the Bourguiba presidency. The reason these actions were taken was the fear of an Algerian scenario. Algeria since independence had struggled with the forces of radical political Islamism. Tunisia wanted to avoid a similar fate.
Habib Bourguiba ruled from 1956 to 1987.
The recognition of Israel was not particularly popular among the population. The banning of Islamic parties only made them seem more attractive to people frustrated with political and economic situations. Tunisia was seeing a rise in the price of consumer goods, while wages remained low. It seemed as if gradually Bourguiba was losing control.
Although Habib Bourguiba declared himself president for life in 1975, he did not remain in power. He was removed by Zine Abidine Ben Ali in 1987. Like his predecessor he continued authoritarian policies. Repression was taken a step further by the outlawing of the Al Nahda Party in 1991. It has been estimated that at least 8000 student activists were detained during the 1990s. The removal of Bourguiba was welcomed enthusiastically by France, Algeria, and the US. Economic liberalization replaced socialist policies, but did not solve the growing national debt. Relations with Libya and Egypt improved afters years of disputes. Oddly at first, Ben Ali attempted reconciliation with the Islamic fundamentalist elements. This position was reversed. Instead of declaring himself president for life, Zine Abidine Ali had the constitution amended so that he could run multiple times.This is a common tactic in authoritarian nations that want to appear to be democratic.
Zine Abidine Ben Ali ruled from 1987 to 2011.
The West remained silent, because Ben Ali was compliant with their foreign policy. Egypt was given similar treatment. Algeria was also falling into a western geopolitical orbit. Libya was the only country in North Africa alienated, because it refused to be a tool of western foreign policy objectives. Tunisia needed Europe for its exports and for the sake of its tourism industry. While the Tunisian economy did grow the population did not see the benefits. The poor were still marginalized in urban and rural areas. Unemployment was high and even worse among the youth. This toxic mix would lead to mass demonstrations, which would be Zine Abidine Ben Ali's downfall.
After the outbreak of protests Zine Abidine Bin Ali was not able to hold on to power. He fled the country seeking refuge in Saudi Arabia. The West did not criticize his regime when crackdowns were occurring. The reason is that he was considered an important ally. Ben Ali did support the War on Terror as a way to reinforce his presidency at home and silence critics abroad. Immediately, the western media changed the narrative. This was described as a freedom struggle against an oppressive regime. Tunisia was made to look like a success story of the Arab Spring. The myth was that these were revolutions. The truth was it was regime change and eventually the new leaders would revert back to the former authoritarian models of government. Another problem was that their is always a power void when a long time leader is removed. With the chaos of political change, it gave rise to extremist elements. The Ennada Party took power and was Islamist. Their influence was increasing rapidly and even the election of secular parties to government have not stopped them. The turning point was the assassination of two opposition figures in 2013. Secular parties demanded a new round of elections. The Islamists were defeated in elections by 2014. That did not discourage more militant factions. With a declining security situation it was only a matter of time before a major attack. The Bardo Museum was struck allegedly by ISIS. Tunisia was not always stable. Around 2002 a suicide bomber attacked a synagogue at the resort of Djerbra. Security forces have been fighting Islamists ever since in small scale skirmishes.
The response to these attacks had only exacerbated the crisis. The Tunisian government has declared a state of emergency. Public assembly and protests will be restricted. The restriction on these civil liberties the government claims is for security. Close observation reveals another motive. The government wants to keep the authoritarian structure intact. Terrorism provides a justification for abuse of political power. It would not be surprising if Beji Caid Essebsi or his prime minister Habib Essid remain in power for a long period of time. That is one characteristic of Tunisia that will not vanish. Government oppression only gives extremists more talking points. It allows them to present themselves as liberators of the people from an oppressive system. There is not denying that these government responses are repressive, but Islamists want to replace one form of oppression with another. There are even rumors that Tunisia is constructing a wall bordering Libya for security purposes. Destabilization has gotten even worse in Libya with Islamist militias attempting to take over. These events reveal two major points. Western intervention in Libya created another terrorist training ground and base. There were no success stories in the Arab Spring, because of the enormous increase in violence, economic turmoil, and political backlash.
Further Reading
Arnold, Guy. Africa: A Modern History. London: Atlantic Books, 2005.
Appiah, Kwame and Gates, Henry. “Habib Bourguiba”. Africana Encyclopedia.
New York :Perseus Books Group,1999.1897.
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