After 12 years of conflict, anger over growing economic hardships has boiled over. Protesters are demanding the ouster of the authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad and an end to the war.
Violence erupted this week in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, again sowing chaos in a country plagued by instability since the ouster of the dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi more than a decade ago.
As African migrants are swept up in a widening crackdown, critics say President Kais Saied is openly mining a deep vein of discrimination and prejudice against dark-skinned people in Tunisia.
Tunisia’s road to democracy began with a self-immolation, and such cases have filled hospital burn wards ever since, as elected leaders failed to deliver on a promise of prosperity.
Tensions across the religious-secular fault lines in the country could not be reconciled, and freely elected leaders failed to deliver on the 2011 uprising’s cry for bread, freedom and dignity.