Jenny Mumah

Background

Located in the North of Africa, Tunisia has a population of over ten million, 98% of which is Muslim. The country was invaded by the French in 1881, following long rivalry over the territory between the French and the Italians. Tunisia only gained its independence in 1956 with Habib Bourguiba as its first president. Following a 1987 bloodless coup, Bourguiba’s single-party regime was overthrown by Zine el Abidine Ben Ali whose five year term came to an end on January 14 2011 after protests arose in the country during the previous month.

The recent Tunisian revolt was sparked off by a suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, a young self-employed college graduate who set himself on fire after the police forbade him from selling on the streets for lack of a permit. Days after Bouazizi’s action, demonstrations spread around the country, forcing President Ben Ali and his country to flee to Saudi Arabia. Frustration had reached a high point especially among unemployed university graduates who were released from the country’s strong educational system set up by the President Bourguiba to a labor market best suited for unskilled or underpaid jobs and a corrupt government (BBC, Jan 19; Kristen Chick, Jan 23; Walt,2011). According to Dickey (2011), Tunisia’s core problems are common to several other countries in the region, an assertion which was confirmed by the rise of protest movements in neighboring countries such as Yemen and Egypt.

Tunisia has no major natural resources, and is mostly covered by desert regions. Its economy is however supported by the agricultural, mining, tourism and the manufacturing sectors (Versi, 2009). Europe and France in particular remains their biggest market for the exportation of products such as clothing, semi-finished goods and textiles, agricultural goods and electrical equipment among others. Though a minor country, Tunis, the nation’s capital was courted by investors because it was considered a safe place to invest and provided cheap labor (Christopher Dickey; BBC, 2011). However, the country’s unemployment rate stands at a staggering 14% with close to 4% of the population living below the poverty line as of 2005 (CIA factbook).

One positive aspect of the country which started from the reig