Tunisia: Between Diplomatic Doctrine and Revolutionary Reality

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Tunisia, the birthplace of the 2011 revolutions, has much in common with its neighbour Libya. Tunisia and Libya have a long and rich shared history and following the revolutions in many ways an intertwined fate as a result of the deep relationships and ties between its peoples. What transpires on one side of the border often has an affect on the other side. Much of this pre- dates the revolution, and is outside of the grip of either state. The shared economies of borderland and transnational communities along the 461km land border have established strong intercommunal bonds but hang on their ability to trade outside of the state’s control. Whilst the two countries also face common transnational threats: from Tunisian terrorist networks that employed Libya’s terrain as a safe haven to mount attacks on their home country to the new shared threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the state of the official border has oscillated between openness and closedness since the 2011 revolution, reflecting the need to balance economic and national security imperatives.

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