Jasmine Revolution Questions

1. Read the following article:

Walt, Vivienne. “Tunisia’s Nervous Neighbors Watch the Jasmine Revolution: The Arab world ponders the lessons of its first successful popular uprising.” Time. 31 January 2011.

I have provided definitions for some names and terms with which you might not be familiar. As you are reading, underline the following names and terms with colored pencil:

Nelson Mandela: First African president of South Africa.
Vaclav Havel: First president of Czech Republic (after break-up of Czechoslovakia).
Macabre: grim or ghastly.
Martyr: Someone who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce a cause.
Ordnance: ammunition.
Al-Jazeera: Arab satellite news network based in Doha, Qatar.
Bolshevik Revolution: Russian Revolution of 1917 which created a communist state.
Carthaginian ruins: Carthage was an ancient city and civilization located near modern Tunis.
WikiLeaks: An international organization which publishes classified documents and communication over the internet.

2. Questions: Please answer with complete sentences on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What is a revolution?
2. Why did Tunisians overthrow President Ben Ali?
3. Describe how the revolution unfolded.
4. Prior to 2008, Tunisia was a prosperous country. What happened to the country’s economy in the past two years? What caused this to happen?
5. Why could the revolution in Tunisia have an effect on its Arab neighbors in North Africa and the Middle East?

Photo Credit: Christophe Ena /AP.