Live Online Policy Forum 

# Tunisia’s Authoritarian Turn 

##### Watch the Event 

Download:

[ 

Video 

](https://fastly-unsigned-us-east-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/6039378657001/8ef57ce4-2913-4730-b462-98294d4db66e/05e2148a-ee5e-451c-8264-03232c27e24d/main.mp4) 

[ 

Audio 

](https://assets.pippa.io/shows/5e2e15a046f4465f31c89d8c/1658255003000-db8a6ab0777ac6c56cdd4aa9c25fad86.mp3) 

Join the conversation on X using [\#CatoFP](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoFP). Follow [@CatoInstitute](https://x.com/catoinstitute) on X to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.

Date and Time 

July 19, 2022 12 - 1 PM EDT 

Location 

Live Online 

Share This Event 

##### Featuring 

![monica-marks.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-07/monica-marks.jpg?itok=KEzO4Mey) 

Monica Marks 

Prof. of Middle East Politics, New York University Abu Dhabi

[ 

](https://twitter.com/MonicaLMarks) 

![RMasmoudi-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-07/RMasmoudi-cropped.jpg?itok=RasbQMJW) 

Radwan A. Masmoudi 

Founder and President, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

[ 

](https://twitter.com/radwan_masmoudi) 

[![Doug Bandow Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-11/bandow-cropped.jpg?itok=aRVHhLhx)](/people/doug-bandow) 

[Doug Bandow](/people/doug-bandow)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/Doug_Bandow) [ 

](mailto:dbandow@cato.org) 

[![Mustafa Akyol Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-11/akyol-cropped-new.jpg?itok=VLgHg13I)](/people/mustafa-akyol) 

[Mustafa Akyol](/people/mustafa-akyol)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/AkyolinEnglish) [ 

](mailto:makyol@cato.org) 

More than a decade ago, Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution gave hope to the Arab world, showing oppressed peoples that longtime dictators can be peacefully ousted. That hope soon failed, brutally, in Egypt, Syria, and Yemen, but Tunisia kept on track throughout the 2010s, proving to be the best democratic hope in an otherwise autocratic and turbulent Middle East.

Yet since July 2021, Tunisia’s trajectory has taken an increasingly worrisome reversal as well. President Kais Saied suspended the parliament, claimed all executive power, prohibited public gatherings, arrested political opponents, and imposed travel bans. As Cato senior fellow Doug Bandow recently observed on a visit to Tunisia, this authoritarian turn risks the freedoms Tunisians have been enjoying in the past 10 years and can throw the country back to arbitrary rule by a strongman. The change is concerning for the broader Arab and Muslim world, where Tunisia used to be a rare example and source of inspiration. Join us as we discuss these changes and what Tunisia’s future may hold.

### Additional Resources

- “[Tunisian Democracy Is Slipping Away](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/tunisian-democracy-is-slipping-away/),” by Doug Bandow

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).