Seth J. Frantzman
The pro-democracy movement marked the death knell of Arab nationalism and unintentionally quickened a shift of regional power toward the Gulf States.
In early December, Tunisian authorities arrested a well-known opposition activist. Human Rights Watch noted that Ayachi Hammami, “a lawyer and rights defender, was arrested on December 2 in his home in a suburb of Tunis. Earlier that day, Hammami’s lawyers had filed an appeal before the Cassation Court, the highest court in Tunisia, and an additional request to suspend the verdict execution pending a final decision.” The crackdown on various critics and opposition elements is another step by the current leader, President Kais Saied, to cement control.
The arrests in Tunisia are an example of how one of the central countries of the Arab Spring has transitioned from a nascent democracy back to a form of authoritarianism. The Arab Spring began after Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010. A month later, after protests swept the country, Tunisian President Ben Ali fled into exile. He had been in power since 1987 and had become a symbol not only of the Tunisian regime but also of Arab nationalism and secularism that had emerged in the Middle East after the colonial era.
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