The following article on the situation in Tunisia was contributed to this blog by the academic Huda Seif.

As the international community watches carefully the intense events of political upheavals and public appraisal that are currently unfolding in Tunisia, one cannot help but reflect on the root causes that led to such desperate public political measures. In a world where one takes for granted basic individual/collective human rights including political rights (the right to a dignified existence and participation in political plurality, elections, freedom of speech, and the rights to disagree) these basic tenets of modern states have indeed been rare commodities in Tunisia.

What is shocking, however, is not the fact that these basic tenets have been lacking in Tunisia to the point were the public have to be driven to the streets using the only means left to them – violence – to claim justice. Rather, it is disturbing to know that Tunisia is celebrated by the international community (the UN, the EU, and the World Bank) as an exemplary and a model state in the Middle East in particular and the developing world in general. Indeed Tunisia enjoys one of the most cordial political relations with the West and the international community, two entities often said to be the guardians of democracy the champions of human rights. The reality, of course, is much different.