How Did a Dream in Tunisia Turn Into a Nightmare?

This article in Democracy for the Arab World Now, a major thinktank focused on the Arab world, details the rise of Tunisia as the lone success story of the Arab Spring protests of 2011. It details the author’s valiant struggle during the initial protests of 2011, and then juxtaposes them against the rise of President Kais Saied and his quick dissolution of democratic institutions throughout Tunisia. The author laments his past as a revolutionary: “How easy it is for a dream to turn into a nightmare, a revolution into a graveyard and victory into bitter defeat. The past, filled with our dreams, has become a despised tale that everyone in Tunisia now avoids even mentioning. People whisper again in cafes instead of shouting. They won’t talk about politics under the shadow of Tunisia’s new dictator, Kais Saied. I wish I could ask my protesting friend the same question again. Why did we do all this? What was the point? Will we ever go back to those days in Sidi Bouzid?”

Read the full article here.