Revolution in the Arab World - Observation of a lost soul Blog
Revolution in the Arab World - Observation of a lost soul Blog
Revolution in the Arab World - Observation of a lost soul Blog
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foreign policy • revolution <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> arab world • Tunisia<br />
The Rise and Fall <strong>of</strong> Ben Ali<br />
BY CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER<br />
As <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> his reign quickly approached, President Z<strong>in</strong>e el-Abid<strong>in</strong>e<br />
Ben Ali attempted to conjure <strong>the</strong> spirit that buoyed his government <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
months after he seized power more than 20 years ago.<br />
In a televised address to <strong>the</strong> country on Jan. 13, Ben Ali—speak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />
colloquial <strong>Arab</strong>ic and <strong>in</strong> unusually humble tones—pledged not to run for<br />
reelection when his current term ends <strong>in</strong> 2014 and to usher <strong>in</strong> a gentler<br />
phase <strong>of</strong> governance <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> meantime. The <strong>of</strong>fer was far too little, far too<br />
late, as <strong>the</strong> reaction <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> streets <strong>of</strong> Tunis made immediately clear. But it<br />
wasn’t just Ben Ali’s tone that recalled an earlier era: In fact, Ben Ali’s fall<br />
from power has had a remarkable similarity to his orig<strong>in</strong>al rise.<br />
In 1987, Tunisia teetered on <strong>the</strong> br<strong>in</strong>k <strong>of</strong> a civil war between <strong>the</strong> totter<strong>in</strong>g<br />
authoritarian government <strong>of</strong> President Habib Bourguiba and a popular Islamist<br />
movement. Ben Ali, who served as both <strong>in</strong>terior m<strong>in</strong>ister and prime<br />
m<strong>in</strong>ister under Bourguiba, removed <strong>the</strong> president on <strong>the</strong> grounds that age<br />
and senility rendered him <strong>in</strong>competent to govern.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> months that followed, Ben Ali was widely hailed as <strong>the</strong> country’s<br />
savior—<strong>the</strong> prescient leader who pulled <strong>the</strong> country back from <strong>the</strong> abyss.<br />
By thwart<strong>in</strong>g chaos, Ben Ali had saved a struggl<strong>in</strong>g economy as well as <strong>the</strong><br />
country’s secular political order.<br />
But Ben Ali was more than a savior. He was also, people believed at <strong>the</strong><br />
time, a democrat. He said all <strong>the</strong> right th<strong>in</strong>gs about <strong>the</strong> need for political<br />
competition, transparency, freedom <strong>of</strong> op<strong>in</strong>ion and expression. He also<br />
spoke about <strong>in</strong>dividual liberties—freedom <strong>of</strong> conscience, <strong>the</strong> right to hold<br />
and express contrary op<strong>in</strong>ions, and human rights. Ben Ali didn’t just sound<br />
like a democrat. He sounded like a liberal democrat.<br />
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