Tunisia’s Nobel Peace Prize: Keeping the Boat Sailing

When I heard about the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Tunisia, my first reaction was happiness – they deserve it. Not just the members of the Quartet who were the recipients, but every Tunisian participating in this grand democracy experiment.

I have worked in places that never got this far, despite the presence of amazing, intelligent, admirable people trying their best. Over time I have come to think that will is the true secret ingredient. Capacity can be built, but some kernel of shared will needs to be there from the start. You need the right people, with the right intentions, at the right time, and there is no substitute for it.

I think about this same thing every time I read writings from America’s Founding Fathers. From the distance of history, America’s birth looks like a process; a lot of people met repeatedly, argued a lot, reacted to foreign events, hammered things out, and a nation came to be.

But then read the letters between John and Abigail Adams, and you suddenly are plunged into the chaos, stress and daily-ness of it all. Abigail is alone running the farm and business, dealing with insecurity and tending sick children. John is riding back and forth to Philadelphia and beyond, complaining bitterly about recalcitrant short-sighted delegates. There is tedium, inching progress and failure along the way. John was exhausted and frustrated as much as he was inspired. Unlike us reading his letters, he didn’t know if they would succeed.

But miraculously they did. Just enough people at the right times decided to swim in the same direction and to let some of their own interests go. And just enough citizens shared their dreams to create a movement. And even once there was a nation, those same Founding Fathers and citizens never stopped the work of pulling people together and fixing cracks in the new political and social mortar whenever they appeared.

Today’s Tunisia is certainly very different, but time and again, they too have managed to find their own version of the right people of good will at the right time.

Ever since the Revolution, Tunisians have been slogging along and learning by doing, trying on different kinds of politics, setting up and reforming associations, debating every conceivable issue, hashing out solutions and even getting into the streets to decry poor political choices or reject violence, which most feel goes against every Tunisian value. Tunisians tenaciously, bravely, just keep showing up, even when they’re not sure what they’re doing or what will happen.

The Quartet is an example of one of these efforts. Some journalists and commenters have pointed out that the Nobel Prize could have just as easily gone to other groups in Tunisia. Others have noted that some Quartet members have come under fire for being too political or self-interested, or accused them of being part of the “Establishment.”

It is true that the Quartet members are established, influential organizations, with an ability to pick up the phone and talk to people in power. But to me, that is actually part of the “Tunisian miracle”: even the most powerful actors are still ultimately making choices that prioritize the country and the common good. There are inevitably interests and politics at play, but they are not the only drivers. Shared will to succeed as a democracy is still present, and is enough of a counter-weight to keep the country lurching back onto the path away from breakdown and towards progress.

And, yes, the Quartet is in good company. Tunisians of all kinds have been working towards democracy with grit and determination since the beginning. Despite all the difficulties, they continue to ask good questions, debate, propose, organize, shout, and generally to keep on caring what happens to them and their country. Tunisians know that their unique history, geography, and society are precious commodities, and their people the most precious resource of all. Compared to most other transitions past and present, the level of maturity and self-awareness Tunisia has demonstrated is staggering.

I hope that at this moment Tunisians take advantage of the Nobel Prize spotlight to step back and really see how far they’ve come. They should bask in the recognition and take energy from it for the work ahead. As one blogger recently wrote, “­ The boat keeps sailing, against all odds.” Tunisians keep repeatedly deciding to be the right people, with the right intentions, making the right decisions at the right times. May they continue to do so.

Pamela Beecroft is a Senior Program Officer for the Middle East & North Africa at CIPE.