Tunisia’s extensive social expenditure has proven to be both unfair and inefficient, further worsening the country’s financial problems. However, this substantial spending has allowed Saied’s regime to buy time and keep the country afloat until the elections. Now that the elections are over, persisting with this approach risks fueling a vicious cycle that could lead to social instability.

President Kais Saied has won a second term in office, but his country is facing a host of problems that necessitate urgent reforms, above all preventing the possibility of a financial meltdown. 

Unless Tunisia undertakes much deeper structural change, Saied’s modus vivendi with big business will lead to increasing economic gridlock.

Tunisia’s vulnerability to financial crisis is clear from its economic performance in 2023. How can the country pull itself back from the edge?

The interaction of national armed forces and private business sectors offers a useful lens for viewing the politics of numerous countries of the so-called Global South. A rising trend of military political activism—often accompanied by military commercial activity—underlines the importance of drivers and outcomes in these relationships.

Several developments have contributed to Tunisia’s transformation into a transit point for African migrants, including its porous borders, inconsistent migration policies, the proliferation of xenophobic attitudes, and deteriorating economic conditions.

Several developments have contributed to Tunisia’s transformation into a transit point for African migrants, including its porous borders, inconsistent migration policies, the proliferation of xenophobic attitudes, and deteriorating economic conditions.

In order to explore the complexities of our rapidly changing world, the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center will examine pressing global issues through four engaging panel discussions in a one-day event, under the collective title, “The World in Focus: Uncertainty and the Global Outlook for 2024.”

Since 2011, Tunisia has been heading for a macroeconomic crisis—large deficits, shrinking fiscal space, and difficult negotiations with the IMF. In this election year, policymakers face high stakes: A hard economic adjustment risks sociopolitical crisis, but without correction, the country faces a future economic meltdown.

The Middle East and North Africa have been hit by food, energy, and debt crises that have exacerbated structural economic weaknesses of low- and middle-incomes countries, particularly Egypt, Tunisia, and Lebanon.