Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

The Role of the Military in Post-Ben Ali Tunisia
Bryan Frederick
The Tunisian military’s refusal to use force against the January 2011 protests in Tunisia
was a crucial factor in the fall of the Ben Ali regime. Since that time, the military has
played an indispensible role in providing security and stability to a country whose other
public institutions have seen tremendous upheaval. The story of the Tunisian military
after the revolution is therefore largely one of success, a rarity in post-conflict situations.
Nonetheless, the expansion of the military’s role into unavoidably political areas carries
with it significant risks both for the country and for the institution of the military itself.
Wise policies will be needed to ensure the continued success of the partnership between
the Tunisian military and the nascent civilian government. To this end, this chapter will
address three main questions. First, why did the Tunisian military refuse its orders to fire
on civilian protestors, and turn on the Ben Ali regime? Second, how has the military
performed in its expanded role since the revolution? Third, what role is the military
likely to play in the future of Tunisian political life? This chapter will conclude by
making a series of recommendations for how to ensure that the Tunisian military
continues to play a positive role in the country’s ongoing transition to a democratic,
constitutional order.
The Restricted Institutional Development of the Tunisian Military
The Tunisian military has never previously played a prominent role in the politics of
post-independence Tunisia. After an attempted military coup by Lazhar Chraïti in 1962,
President Habib Bourguiba took numerous steps to curb the military’s power and prevent
it from accumulating any institutional experience in politics. Nonetheless, Bourguiba did
rely upon the military on multiple occasions. In 1978 and 1984, the army was used to
repress civil demonstrations and buttress the regime, and both times it complied with
those orders. However, the military disliked being asked to perform tasks suited for the
domestic security forces, and resented the resulting damage to its reputation for
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