Day 6

How Tunisia avoided the Arab winter

In December 2010, 26-year-old Tunisian vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire to protest the arbitrary confiscation of his goods and harassment by local officials, effectively starting a revolution that caused waves through the Middle East. Since then, much of what the Arab Spring accomplished has been dismantled. The Egyptian military ousted the democratically elected government; Syria is mired in civil war;...
In December 2010, 26-year-old Tunisian vendor Mohamed Bouazizi  set himself on fire to protest the arbitrary confiscation of his goods and harassment by local officials, effectively starting a revolution that caused waves through the Middle East. Since then, much of what the Arab Spring accomplished has been dismantled. The  Egyptian military ousted the democratically elected government; Syria is mired in civil war; and Libya is on the brink of chaos. In the midst this, Tunisia voted a new secular party into power.  Brent talks with Lina Ben Mhenni, a prominent blogger and activist instrumental in the 2011 Jasmine revolution, about how Tunisia has faced a different fate from its Arab Spring neighbours.