Can Tunisia’s youth resist the resurgence of authoritarianism?

The youthful energy that once thrummed through the streets of Tunis, ousting a long-entrenched dictator more than a decade ago, has withered in the face of an unchecked authoritarian resurgence.

The Arab Spring, which ignited the spark of hope for many young Tunisians, is now merely a dim and haunting memory in what is left of the country’s disappearing democracy. This sense of disillusionment does not signify an end, however, but rather an opportunity to recalibrate and learn lessons from counterparts in regions steeped in similar, if not greater, challenges.

The youth of Tunisia face a political environment strained by past promises of democracy now overshadowed by a return to authoritarian tendencies. In the decade since the Arab Spring, periods of optimism have faded into disillusionment as democratic institutions weaken and economic hardships persist.

Meanwhile, the government’s centralization of power has only fueled further frustration and an impending sense of permanent hopelessness, leading to sporadic but fervent protests demanding systemic change. These agitations often meet with harsh crackdowns, leaving young Tunisians locked in an endless struggle against political stagnation.

There is a palpable sense of distress among Tunisian youth, and understandably so. Their complaints are two-fold: broken democratic promises and diminished socioeconomic prospects.

However, if we expand our scope to consider the lived experiences etched in the lives and similar struggles of Iraqi youth, we can see that they appear to have accepted the grim realities they face without giving up on their ambitions for change. Instead, they have recalibrated their approach rather than persisting with head-on resistance.

Young people in Iraq have chosen a path of strategic patience, opting for grassroots movements as their vehicles for change. In an environment fraught with political risks, they have carved out space for community-driven initiatives in education, healthcare and local development.

This quiet resistance is a methodical tactic, effectively operating under the radar of government retaliation. By focusing on long-term societal reforms rather than short-term political gains, Iraqi youths are slowly working to dismantle systemic corruption and failures of governance.

Their subtle approach is a lesson in political dexterity. It hints at a profound understanding that real change comes through building societal resilience, rather than direct confrontation with entrenched authority.

Contrast this with Tunisia, where young activists often lean toward more visible forms of opposition, often relying on direct protest and public resistance as their primary tools. However, these methods provoke an immediate backlash, the result of which is that sustainable change remains elusive in a volatile political climate.

While protests can galvanize attention, the Iraqi youth model suggests that the real battleground for change lies in achieving incremental victories through local engagement and creating sustainable systems of accountability. The strategic patience of youth in Iraq is a compelling example of how quiet resistance can yield tangible results. It offers crucial lessons for those trapped in similarly repressive environments on how to pursue gradual, yet genuine and sustainable reform and change.

Rather than repeating the same old strategies that result only in brutal crackdowns and a whittling away of the opposition, then, Tunisian youth must learn a very important lesson, and fast: Engaging the state cannot always be about direct confrontation, it can also involve delicate endurance and gradual influence.

In the face of shifting political dynamics and diminished enthusiasm for democratic ideals, youths in Tunisia are at a crossroads where the crumbling promises of the past decade offer scant comfort amid an authoritarian reset

Hafed Al-Ghwell

 

 

Iraqi youth leagues, community groups and other non-governmental organizations are an important illustration of this strategy of maintaining a low political profile while pushing the needle forward on societal reforms. Such a strategy could very well be adapted in Tunisia, where disengagement from political life has become the norm.

In the face of shifting political dynamics and diminished enthusiasm for democratic ideals, youths in Tunisia are at a crossroads where the crumbling promises of the past decade offer scant comfort amid an authoritarian reset. Much like their Iraqi counterparts, young people in Tunisia need a fresh blueprint that revisits the idea of grassroots activism and adapts it to fit the local context.

Adaptation of the Iraqi youth strategy, which has encouraged significant local engagement on issues such as sanitation, girls’ education and business incubation, offers a viable model for Tunisia’s youth amid authoritarian encroachments.

In Iraq, the pivot from mass protests to community-focused initiatives has not only facilitated immediate local improvements but also strengthened civil society against regression by deeply embedding activist efforts within communities. Tunisia, which faces similar socioeconomic impediments, could draw inspiration from this blueprint in its efforts to fortify its own civil society.

For instance, Tunisian youths could channel their energy into strengthening the structures for local governance, and the pursuit of those reforms that are “low-hanging fruit,” more easily reached. As Tunisia grapples with similar socioeconomic barriers to those in Iraq, the youth of the country can adopt similar approaches to those of their Iraqi counterparts to help reinforce the resilience of civil society.

By initiating local projects that tackle unemployment or improve educational services, for example, Tunisian youth can address urgent needs while laying the groundwork for sustained civic involvement. Such grassroots endeavors build community trust and create a vested interest in the continuity of democratic practices, making it more challenging for authoritarian forces to dismantle progress.

For the defenders of democracy, the empowerment of youth through targeted local projects could therefore serve as a buffer against the rollback of democratic gains, helping to create a generation that is fully invested in, and capable of steering, gradual yet effective systemic changes.

This refocused form of activism can better harness the individualistic tendencies of the youth worldview, transforming the pursuit of personal responsibility into collective local action and thereby initiating a bottom-up rebuilding process that creates realistic expectations based on current capabilities.

Economic initiatives also offer a tangible pathway for engagement that aligns with the practical needs of a generation grappling with the specter of stagnant development and deteriorating public services. In many regions, young Tunisians could spearhead cooperative ventures and social enterprises that not only provide employment but also fill service gaps left by the state. Such initiatives aim to cultivate a sense of agency and innovation, encouraging a shift from disillusionment, through top-down political discourse, toward actionable, community-centric economic empowerment.

Drawing on the post-2003 experiences of Iraq, it is crucial that these initiatives embrace patience and persistence in the realization that the journey from microeconomic projects to macroeconomic effects will require time.

The empowerment of Tunisian youth through localized economic drivers will not only foster resilience in the absence of comprehensive national reforms but also set a pragmatic course for long-lasting political and social repair.

Moreover, Tunisian youths must realize that discontent, if channeled constructively, can persist and achieve desirable results in the face of authoritarian drift. They do not need to abandon their democratic ideals but rather reorient them into the pursuit of tangible community benefits. This approach does not denote submission to authoritarianism but rather a savvy recalibration of the fight.

Historical precedents and current comparatives serve as reminders that every movement must evolve. For Tunisia’s youth, this means a transition from the role of revolutionaries to steady builders. The future of democracy in the country might therefore rest not in the fervent cries of protest but in the quieter, consistent hum of daily community work, strategic socioeconomic campaigning, and a gradual, inevitable reshaping of the political culture.

• Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa Initiative at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. X: @HafedAlGhwell