While I am sorry for the repression and the people who have died in Tunisia, I am excited at the unexpected overthrow of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali by its own people.
I have visited the country a few times as well as many other Arab/Muslim countries (Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt, Palestinian territories). Most Muslim nations have rulers for life and it's nice to see that for once, a corrupt dictator who has been in power since 1987 was thrown out, not by U.S. military intervention but by popular rebellion. And as this article explains it took American diplomats and Wikileaks efforts to reveal what many Tunisians suspected and that is the extent of the government's corruption and abuse to help ignite the overthrow. Now the paradox here is obvious. The U.S. spends hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of human lives are lost in a bloody military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq with very little success in establishing grassroots change. And instead, U.S. diplomats telling a detailed story about corruption in Tunisia and a group of determined journalists at Wikileaks and Bradley Manning help accomplish what a decade of military intervention in the Middle East could not: a popular uprising against corruption and dictatorship. Yes, the realities of Afghanistan, Iraq and Tunisia are different and most credit goes to the Tunisian people themselves. Yet, as this New York Times article explains, many in the Arab/Muslim world are watching Tunisia and wondering how long will they put up with their own "Ben Alis". Especially in nearby Egypt.
It is interesting though that it took a combination of angry Tunisians, Wikileaks, U.S. diplomacy, a dissident soldier and social media to ignite the rebellion. Most likely if it had been Hillary Clinton alone telling the Tunisian people how corrupt Ben Ali was, it would have backfired. What US fails to see is that change is possible but the most USA can do is move the needle, not "build nations". I think the State Department should learn a lot from Tunisia and rethink Wikileaks, cellular networks, social networks, and the power of the raw truth when dictators lose control of the popular message.
I do recommend to read the original documents that Wikileaks exposed about Tunisia to understand the anger of the Tunisian people.
Follow Martin Varsavsky on Twitter: www.twitter.com/martinvars
Barry Lando: Tunisia: Democratic Triumph or U.S. Disaster?
Shadi Hamid: Tunisia: The First Arab Democratic Revolution?
Incorrect.
Wikileaks and US diplomacy had nothing to do with it. I have spoken with many Tunisians over the past few days and all resent that some in the media are pushing the Wikileaks link.
What we saw in Tunisia is the result of years of brutal repression and state control.
Unemployment, flawed economic policies, state corruption sparked the street protests. The Tunisians did not wait for Wikileaks to come along and tell them what they have for decades known. Nor were they inspired by Iraq's democracy, as some media pundits have claimed.
Let us not pave over the sacrifices of brave people who stood for change in Tunisia.
The protests started in the town of Sidi Bouzid when Mohammed Bouazziz, a university graduate who could not find work and was operating a vegetable stand, had his wares confiscated by the police because he did not have the proper paperwork. He burned himself out of frustration and protest.
His death is the spark which caused the snap that broke Ben Ali's back. The protests grew and spread throughout Tunisia thanks to a strongly organized social media campaign ...
Arab repressive governments are going to try and learn what they can from this. But the die is cast; the oppressed, the disenfranchised are fed up ...
The claim by Vravasky can not be substantiated. I am a strong supporter of Wikileaks but it is misleading to write that Tunisians revolved because of that.
The events in Tunisia were trigged by the public self-burning of a Tunisian citizen who was refused a permit to sell food on the street in one of the Tunisian cities.
Mr. Vravasky should stop making stuff up and spreading misinformation.
good new video of Robert Fisk on The Real News, discussing Pakistan primarily but touching on this larger problem
http://therealnews.com/t2/component/seyret/?task=videodirectlink&id=8831
I thing Egypt and Saudis are next
i think Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was kept in power for so long becuase of the united states.
When neighbouring Algeria voted for people America did not like in elections in 1992, America supported a military takeover. 100 000 people died.
The Tunisian people saw what happened in Algeria , and knew that they had no chance to stand up to Zine El Abidine Ben Ali becuase America and France would not support the people.
The overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is due to America's failed policies caused by the Afghanistan and iraq misadventures and the goldman sachs economic policies of greed. America was unable to save Zine El Abidine Ben Ali becuase America's best minds are stuck in Pakistan and Yemen. 30 years of American policy to keep a dictaotship in Tunsia has gone up in flames yesterday. France did not let Zine El Abidine Ben Ali land becuase there couple hundred thousand tunisians and north africans living in France. If Zine El Abidine Ben Ali landed in Paris, these people would have prtoested and brought down the French government
In Afghanistan and Iraq we have lost, these are two longest war that we have. In afghanistan we fight with an IDEOLOGY, it is impossible to win an defeat an IDEOLOGY. Russian they lost this war and they have left. In Vietnam we couldn't defeat IDEOLOGY and we lost that war. I hope we change our policy throughout that region, and win the HEARTS and MINDS of those people.
Wikileaks and Twitter may have played a minor part in this popular triumph, but the victory was a long way coming, and the struggle against Ben Ali started before anyone had heard of either of them. What is conspicuous is how antagonistic US statements actually were towards the demonstrators and how sympathetic they were to the government--that is, until it was clear "our guy" was done for, after which our government remembered the "dignity" of the Tunisian people.
Perhaps you should stick to entrepeneuring and leave the professoring to people who know what they're talking about.
So the Tunisian revolution was triggered by the Wikileaks documents about corruption in the country? I mean really? no one knew about it??
This is an insult to the people of Tunisia who have endured for years the authoritarian rule of Ben-Ali and his wife's clan. But wait, they didn't know until the light came from the US state department.
Here is some news for Mr Varsvksy.
Two books on Ben-Ali "Notre Ami Ben-Ali" (2001) and on his wife "la regente de carthage" (2009) were published by two leading French journalists who exposed in detail the Tunisian regime few years back.
And yes the books were banned in Tunisia but guess what: they having been available on the web for anyone to download and read.