How Tunisia Became the Only Real Arab Spring Success Story

Published: Oct. 25, 2017, 9:59 p.m.

Safwan Masri set out with a simple question: of all the countries caught in the turmoil of the Arab Spring, how is it that Tunisia was the only country to successfully replace a long ruling despot with a more or less functioning democracy? His new book Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly takes a deep dive into that question, examining Tunisia's history, politics and, crucially some decades old educational reforms.\xa0

This is a very interesting conversation about both the Arab Spring, and Tunisia's unique experience. It is the Arab Spring success story--so far at least--and Safwan Masri helps me understand why. \xa0 Safwan Masri is Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University.\xa0\xa0 \xa0 Become a premium subscriber\xa0to unlock bonus episodes, earn other rewards, and support the show!\xa0