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Nation Conversations: Roane Carey and Graham Usher on Tunisia’s Other Revolution

With promised reforms still not materializing, protests from Islamists, Leftists and others are demanding a redistribution of wealth in the economically stratified country.

The Nation

August 20, 2011

Tunisia has seen two revolutions. The first was the spark that ignited the Arab World. After Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire in protest in the poor city of Sidi Bouzid, he inspired masses to take to the streets, eventually causing the fall of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The second was after the fall of Ben Ali, once promised reforms failed to materialize, especially in the interior of the country. Protests from separate factions—the Islamists, the Leftists, and others—have erupted,demanding a redistribution of wealth in the economically stratified country.

Graham Usher joins Nation Conversations to comment on this less-reported uprising, and whether or not Tunisia has the political potential to create genuine economic reform or if revolutionary hopes will descend into classwar. 

Anna Lekas Miller

The NationTwitterFounded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.


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