'Birthplace' of Arab Spring Suffering Growing Pains

'Birthplace' of Arab Spring Suffering Growing Pains

STATE DEPARTMENT—

Tunisia is under "tremendous pressure" from terrorist attacks as it works to build and enact¹ democratic reforms, according to Tom Malinowski, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor².

Some of that pressure is from neighboring Libya, where attacks by Islamic State-affiliated militants⁴ have contributed to regional instability, said Malinowski, who visited Tunis earlier this month.

Tunisia has done many of the “right things,” including holding free elections and creating “space for civil society,” said Malinowski, who met with Prime Minister Habib Essid and members of parliament.

Malinowski, however, said the country’s reforms are being challenged.

“It is under tremendous pressure right now from a wave of terrorist attacks, which I think are targeting Tunisia precisely⁵ because it has taken these creative steps forward in democracy,” said Malinowski.

Tunisia is the birthplace of the Arab Spring movement that began sweeping⁶ through the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. During that time, the nation overthrew⁷ a dictator and emerged as a democracy.  

External, internal challenges

Tunisia, however, continues to face external and internal challenges.

Islamic State-affiliated militants in Libya released Monday a video they say showed the execution of a Tunisian man in Benghazi, claiming he had been spying for Libya’s internationally recognized government.

In June, a gunman killed 38 people in Tunisia’s coastal⁸ resort city of Sousse. Tunisian authorities said the gunman trained at a militant³ camp in Libya.

“Tunisia is cursed in part by being close to Libya,” said Malinowski. “It shares a very long border with Libya and given the situation in Libya with ISIL, gaining a foothold in parts of that country and the chaos⁹ that we are trying to end or mitigate¹⁰, it has created a situation that Tunisia is being the brunt of.”

To lessen¹¹ the impact of Libya’s instability, Tunisia announced plans in July to build a 168-kilometer-long wall along part of its border with Libya.

Essid said it is one of “many measures” being enacted¹² to help with security.

Porous¹³ shared border

The porous shared border has served as a conduit for terrorists, said Karim Mezran, a North Africa analyst¹⁴ at the Atlantic Council.

“Terrorists can get training in Libya, can smuggle¹⁵ weapons, can smuggle between Libya and Tunisia. The border is pretty much open,” he said.

Mezran, however, added that he does not believe in walls. Instead, he said a better investment in Libya to help it deal with instability would have more benefit in the long run.

Some of Tunisia’s problems are internal, said Washington Institute analyst Sarah Feuer.

“Tunisia, it can build all of the walls that it wants,” said Feuer. “But at some point it also has to deal with the security threats emanating¹⁶ within its borders,” she added.

Thousands of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria are thought to be from Tunisia.

US increases assistance

Feuer said the best thing the United States can do is to help Tunisia continue to back its political reforms.

“Tunisia is trying to proceed along this bumpy¹⁷ path to democracy, and the concern is that it is harder to do that if you have a real security threat emanating,” said Feuer.

Malinowski said the U.S. has been “stepping up” assistance to Tunisia to help the government better monitor the flow of people in and out of the country, and to gather better intelligence information.

He also said the U.S. is helping¹⁸ Tunisia train its police forces.

1 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

8 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

11 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

12 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

14 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

15 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

16 emanating   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Even so, there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow. 纵然如此，也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。 来自辞典例句
• Many surface waters, particularly those emanating from swampy areas, are often colored to the extent. 许多地表水，特别是由沼泽地区流出的地表水常常染上一定程度的颜色。 来自辞典例句

17 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。