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 what’s going on, what it all means for Tunisia’s future, and how — or whether — the international community should respond.

References:

Tunisia’s president fired its prime minister and suspended parliament

Is what happened in Tunisia a coup?

A helpful timeline outlining Tunisia’s democratic transition

Tunisia’s imperfect democracy was still a model, wrote Sarah E. Yerkes in 2019 

Foreign Policy on the problem with calling Tunisia the Arab Spring’s “lone success story”

Bloomberg’s Hussein Ibish on why this crisis is testing Tunisia’s political divisions 

The US secretary of state’s Tunisia tweets
 
Hosts:
Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, Vox
Jennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), senior foreign editor, Vox
Jen Kirby (@j_kirby1), foreign and national security reporter, Vox
 
Consider contributing to Vox:
If you value Worldly’s work, please consider making a contribution to Vox:
bit.ly/givepodcasts
More to explore:
Subscribe for free to Today, Explained, Vox’s daily podcast to help you understand the news, hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
About Vox:
Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.
Follow us:
Vox.com
Newsletter: Vox Sentences
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices