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

What the U.S. has Promised Tunisia
The U.S. State Department’s Conflict Stabilization office has provided and promised to
continue providing various forms of technical training to a broad range of service sectors
in the country. Technical training is a low cost method to improve the efficiency of the
country as a whole. In addition to the longstanding military exchanges to train Tunisian
military at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, which strengthen the alliance between the two
countries, the U.S. has also begun training programs with the police and justice
departments to ensure that the rule of law prevail in the country. This will help to develop
institutions that will attract investment. Government departments in the U.S., such as
Commerce and Agriculture, have worked with industries in Tunisia to develop their
export capabilities. This will prove to be mutually beneficial as Tunisia acquires the
ability to compete competitively on the global market and the U.S. is able to purchase
Tunisian goods at a desirable price.
U.S. Ambassador-Gordon Gray, has indicated that his staff is working with U.S.
investors to improve their perception of the risks in investing in the Tunisian economy.
The Embassy is also facilitating discussions for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between
the two countries. Embassy personnel are working with U.S. policymakers to showcase
the stability and mutual benefits to investment in Tunisia. However, Ambassador Gray
stated that any aspirations for a type of Marshall Plan to be implemented in Tunisia will
not be forthcoming. Domestic and international pressures have compelled the U.S. to
allocate proportionately more monetary assistance to other volatile areas (SAIS Group
Meeting, 27 January 2012).
Assistance through subsidized loans and grants to Tunisia will be limited by
concerns by U.S. policymakers that it will encourage dependency on foreign aid. To
alleviate this, the U.S. has been able to specialize its assistance by sector and region to
provide sufficient funds for sustainable independent growth. Organizations such as the
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Middle East Partnership Initiative
(MEPI) and the USAID Office of Transition Initiative (OTI) are helping to put money
into development projects in the near term. Their assistance to the greater Middle East
region compels intended recipients to establish competitive plans for development in
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