Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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Financial crises are threatening the stability of Egypt, Tunisia, and Lebanon. Despite a rare alignment of elements conducive to change, reforming the economy will still be politically challenging.
Egypt’s and Tunisia’s dependency on outside funding has led them to become peripheral in the global economy and in Middle Eastern and North African geopolitics.
While international donors are right to focus on supporting civil society in acute crises, their approach has serious limitations. For more effective crisis mitigation, engagement with civic actors must be part of a broader political strategy driven by local dynamics and priorities.
The war in Ukraine has not stopped Russia’s activities in Africa. Over the past year, the Wagner Group, in particular, has taken advantage of France’s and other Western countries’ worsening relations with Sahelian states.
In the last decade, nondemocratic regimes have received more development assistance than democratic countries. This reveals how donors struggle with autocratization despite a rhetorical commitment to democracy.
Morocco has successfully begun to connect its once-neglected eastern region to domestic and global economic resources. But it is vital to ensure that the benefits these initiatives bring are fairly reinvested in local communities.
After three years in office, the Tunisian president has yet to present a cohesive foreign policy agenda. Instead, Saied’s erosion of the country's democratic integrity has isolated Tunisia from international leaders, donors, and investors.
Women are underrepresented in Algeria's business sector. While the state has launched several initiatives to help, more needs to be done to combat misogynistic ideas about women's roles and the institutionalized discrimination to which they have given rise.
Tunisia’s democratic crisis is also a reflection of the EU’s weak and fragmented commitment to the country. The EU should encourage a return to democracy by alleviating Tunisia’s economic struggles, spurring political reforms, and pressuring regional partners to stop meddling in Tunisian affairs.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic crisis have deepened existing gender inequities. The EU should strengthen its efforts to address the barriers to gender equality by promoting and supporting women’s political empowerment.