Why Tunisia matters

Tunisia has been a flurry of media coverage the past few weeks due to the recent overthrow of their former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

What grew from a Facebook movement among many disenfranchised Tunisia youth has transformed into a country’s call for change. They rejected the tyrannical 23-year rule of Ben Ali and fought to obtain basic human rights.

Their fight against Tunisia’s corruption and high rates of unemployment mirror the overall attitudes of discontentment throughout the region.  More and more people in North Africa are growing tired of having their voices and humanity stripped, and this overthrow signaled the first of many events to come in the rejection of their marginalized treatment.

This movement and the resulting overthrow of the Tunisia government through the “Jasmin Revolt” showcase the power of people to fight for their right to democracy.

In the aftermath of this revolution, there has been a lot of talk but little change in the way the world has reacted to the massive changes occurring in Tunisia. The lack of response from the United States, outside of a few brief comments, has made a clear statement that the United States doesn’t care about the everyday people of northern African and Arabic-speaking countries in general.

Last week, Mark Levine wrote a great article for Al Jazeera entitled “Tunisia: How the US got it wrong.” The article argued, as the title suggests, that the U.S. government has ignored talking about and working with Tunisia in the past few weeks.

I agree with Levine’s argument.

He writes, “The flight of former President Ben Ali to Saudi Arabia is inspiring people across the Arab world to take to the streets and warn their own sclerotic and autocratic leaders that they could soon face a similar fate.”

This rejection of capitalism and corrupt leaders has also spread to other Arab countries in the region, most notably in Egypt. Yet, when asked about the U.S. position on the events, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We can’t take sides.”

This statement clearly undermines the humanity that everyday people in Tunisia and other Arab nations were fighting for. But simply showing interest or sympathy for Tunisia’s struggle could have made huge changes in the way Arab nations viewed the United States and its agenda in the region.

Clearly, Clinton and the Obama administration are aware of the Ben Ali regime and its history in Tunisia.

In a recent cable leaked by WikiLeaks, the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia wrote, “The problem is clear: Tunisia has been ruled by the same president for 22 years ... he and his regime have lost touch with the Tunisian people. ... As a consequence, the risks to the regime’s long-term stability are increasing.”

President Obama needs to vocally support the everyday people of Tunisia and other areas across the region. This vocal support will change the way young people view the United States and enable partnership instead of hatred between the nations.

He should put the United States’ support behind this nation in this time of crisis. This support can be shown by not just participating in the same old song and dance of supporting “free and fair elections.“ These practices are fine and dandy but do virtually nothing. They are just more of the same promises of support that illustrate to citizens of a country that we really don’t care what happens there.

We should care what happens in Tunisia because what happens there will affect our own national security and change the way we are seen in the world.

By making a public statement to the people of Tunisia that we support them and will not stand for another leader like Ben Ali, we can start to change the way we are perceived. But these words are not enough, we must stand by our word and refuse to allow the new government to disempower the people in the same ways that the old regime did. We can work to give Ben Ali’s assets back to the people of Tunisia and help them in their brand-new start.

By doing all these things with Tunisia, Obama’s administration can show other Arabic-speaking countries that they can rise above their current systems and retake their country. This would be the perfect way to help improve the United States’ image abroad and show the world that the United States really does care about the average people in other countries.

They can cut their ties with imperialistic leaders and unite themselves with the masses of people who are tired of living under oppressive regimes.

It is imperative that the United States responds in these ways. This is a defining moment in the Obama presidency, and he must act immediately. Our actions could be a key turning point in the U.S.-Arab countries’ relationship and can forever change U.S. and world history.


E-mail: tmkennel@indiana.edu