World Affairs Council delegation wraps up fact finding mission to Tunisia

A national delegation from the World Affairs Council, spent the past week in Tunisia meeting with leading members of government, political parties, civil society and activists from the university arena. The delegation was headed by Craig Snyder, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the World Affairs Council, World Affairs Council . The World Affairs Council (WAC) is the oldest and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan forum organization in the United States, with chapters throughout the United States. The WAC provides an educational vehicle for the public to join leading foreign policy and international relations experts to discuss and debate global issues.

The WAC delegation was joined throughout by Hatem Bourial, a leading specialist on Tunisia's culture and history, as well as Jerry Sorkin, a specialist on Middle East and North African issues and a longtime resident of Tunisia. The World Affairs Council made two previous visits to Tunisia, but this recent delegation marked the first such visit since the Revolution. Future WAC delegations are being planned, based on the unanimous success found by members of the delegation visiting this past week.

Among the numerous meetings were a visit to a Tunis based NGO,Tunisian Association for Management and Social Stability to hear about that NGO's projects in thirteen regions of Tunisia, with the goal of creating jobs and small business enterprises. The group heard from the NGO's founder, Chema Gargouri, who shared the many challenges faced by Tunisia's faltering economy and the pressing need for Tunisians to see progress in job creation.

The delegation felt hearing all perspectives was important. As part of this, the group met with Oussama Romdhani, Minister of Communications during the year prior to the Revolution and departure of President Ben Ali. Romdhani, who now writes as an analyst for many publications, candidly described the situation prior to the Revolution and the problems that faced Tunisia which were being ignored by the previous regime and or caused by Ben Ali's autocratic manner of governing.

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The group met with Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, founder of Ennahda, the Islamic party that held the plurality in Tunisia from October 2011 thru the end of 2014. The group found Sheikh Ghannouchi to be very reassuring that Tunisia's future will benefit by the multi-party system and noted how Ennahda stepped down from many of its posts at the end of 2013 in order to bring in a government of technocrats to govern starting at the beginning of 2014, which then helped pave the way for the most recent elections held at the end of 2014.

 The delegation met at the Presidential Palace in Carthage with Ambasssador Khemais Jhinaoui, chief diplomatic advisor to President Beji Caid Essebsi, whose party, Nida Tounes, now heads the government as a result of the elections held at the end of 2014. As with all the people the WAC met with, the important message that is being delivered is the importance of seeing Tunisia's economy stimulated and creating jobs, not an easy task to achieve given the many obstacles that Tunisia must overcome.

At the Foreign Ministry, the delegation met with Ambassador Elyes Kasri, Director General for the Americas and Asia. Kasri, a seasoned diplomat with extensive experience in both Asia and the United States, laid out Tunisia's foreign policy concerns rather eloquently, including the challenges Tunisia faces by being in the neighborhood of Libya, Mali and other countries where both the rule of law and the proliferation of weapons makes Tunisia's task of preserving its security all the more challenging.

With the important role played during the Revolution by Tunisia's youth, the delegation made visits to both Kairouan and Sousse, providing an opportunity to hear opinions beyond the "Tunis centric" focus that underscores so much of what takes place in Tunisia.

In Kairouan, the group met with a group of twenty-something activists who are involved with civil society and in many cases, resent the fact that an older generation of politicians are overseeing the direction of the country's politics.

Rachid Ghannouchi on left, Craig Snyder on right

In Sousse, the group met with Hafedh Gharbi, a professor at the University of Sousse, whose insight of American government and policies was equally matched by his insight into Tunisia. Along with one of his best students, they shared some of the frustrations Tunisians face with the educational system and the pressing need for Tunisia's economy to provide the future for Tunisia's youth. Gharbi also pointed out that the old days of Tunisians graduating and then waiting for the government to provide jobs is a relic of the past that Tunisian youth must overcome. Rather, there is a need for Tunisians to think in an entrepreneurial way and consider what they can do on their own to create jobs and economic opportunities. 

In a meeting at the United States Embassy, the WAC group met with U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, Jacob Walles, who has been serving as ambassador to Tunisia since prior to the Revolution. Ambassador Walles underscored the message that was constantly heard by Tunisians, their need to receive economic assistance. As Ambassador Walles aptly noted, the United States is not in a position to provide unlimited funds to Tunisia, nor are the other donor nations and thus, Tunisia must rise to the challenge of also correcting many of the structural impediments within their own system.

The Ambassador praised the consensus showed by the various Tunisian parties which allowed for the free and transparent elections at the end of 2014 and underscored the United State's commitment to helping Tunisia achieve its goals of a successful democracy.

By all accounts, the World Affairs Council trip to Tunisia was a success beyond the expectations of all involved. Plans are already being made for a return in late 2015 or early 2016 of an even larger WAC delegation.

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Impressions of Craig Snyder from Tunisia