Research Library

This report summarizes the key findings from a workshop on Tunisian politics and Islam the Baker Institute hosted at the Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center in Tunis on Feb. 12.

The author examines how Ennahdha’s new recruitment processes will likely affect the party's identity, member loyalty and activist base.

Contrary to expectations, the relationship between Ennahdha and the Salafis in Tunisia was destined for failure. The authors explain why, but note that the reasons young people looked to Salafism for revolutionary purity and inspiration remain. Those interested in the stability of Tunisia's regime should not take the defeat of Salafism for granted, they write.

Ennahdha, a political party of Muslim democrats, is a major force in Tunisia's emergence as a democracy. The author explains why a viable Islamic rival has not appeared and explores the implications for Tunisia should one emerge.

This brief explores how the alliance between Tunisia's two leading political parties — Nidaa Tounes and Ennahdha — has contributed to the Tunisian public’s growing dissatisfaction with formal politics, which has potentially dangerous consequences for the country’s democratic transition.

This brief on the Trump administration's approach to the battle against ISIS is the first of a three-part series on America's foreign policy in the Middle East. Subsequent reports will examine U.S. policy in Syria and the intensified competition between Iran and traditional U.S. partners in the region, notably Saudi Arabia and Israel.   

The impending demise of petrodollar-supported capitalist Islamism, the failures of which begat 21st century terrorist Islamism, incentivizes the Muslim middle class and timocracies to find another outlet for Muslim liberation theology. This amplifies manifold the risks (and potential, but limited, benefits) of “Islamic finance.”  

The fall of Mosul and the ongoing demise of the ISIS pseudo-state are good news, but they do not herald either an end to the jihadist terrorist threat nor promise an enduring solution to the ongoing conflicts that have afflicted Iraq and, especially, Syria, writes Bonner Means Baker Fellow Joe Barnes in this post for the Baker Institute Blog.

Postdoctoral fellow Kenneth Evans examines how President Donald Trump’s executive orders temporarily banning travelers from certain Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S. impacted scientific research and the country’s ability to attract and retain the world’s best scientists, engineers, students and educators. Association for Women in Science magazine (p. 10-12): http://bit.ly/2sHZMRs.