Zack, Jenn, and Jen Kirby discuss the political crisis gripping Tunisia following the president’s decision to fire the prime minister and suspend parliament. Tunisia was the big “success story” of the Arab Spring: the one country whose revolution produced a real, albeit rocky, transition to democracy — a democracy that is now in crisis. The gang explains wha ... Show More
Aug 2021
Authoritarians without borders
Zack, Jenn, and Jen Kirby look at how authoritarianism has become internationalized, through the lens of two recent news stories: 1) Fox News host Tucker Carlson choosing to broadcast his show from Hungary this week; and 2) a Belarusian Olympian in Tokyo seeking asylum out of fea ... Show More
42m 59s
Oct 2021
Taking the pulse of Tunisia’s democracy
Tunisia has a new prime minister, the first woman in the Arab world to hold the job. She’s replacing the prime minister that President Kais Saied sacked in July, when he suspended parliament. Many Tunisians, fed up with political parties and an economic crisis, thought that was t ... Show More
17m 43s
Jul 2021
The political crisis unfolding in Tunisia
Tunisia’s president is on a firing spree. Kais Saied sacked the prime minister, froze parliament, and dismissed several senior officials in the span of a week, all in the name of anti-corruption. The political turmoil has many Tunisians wondering — should they view these latest d ... Show More
21m 13s
Feb 2024
Democracy on the brink in Tunisia?
In 2011, Tunisians took to the streets against the ruling authoritarian regime. Catalysed by social media, the protests would reverberate around the world, spark the Arab Spring and lead to significant democratic reforms in the country. More recently, Tunisia’s democracy has reac ... Show More
19m 36s
Apr 2023
Tunisia’s democracy on the brink
Tunisia in North Africa was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, a wave of popular uprisings that shook or toppled authoritarian regimes in the region. But, after a decade of fragile democracy, in 2019 a new strongman, President Kais Saied, swept to power. He directed his campaign ... Show More
49m 5s
Sep 2021
Tunisia's Popular Authoritarian
This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Dr. Monica Marks, a professor of Middle East politics at NYU Abu Dhabi who has been thinking about Tunisia for almost 15 years. They discuss Tunisian President Kais Saied's recent moves to consolidate power, why Tunisians seem to support him, w ... Show More
37m 2s