"Tunisia needs both bread and freedom"

Assistant Professor of Government Ameni Mehrez, who joined the W & M faculty in Fall 2025, recently published a chapter with the Atlantic Council as part of their “2026 Atlas: Freedom and prosperity around the world”. The article focuses on the political situation in Tunisia and the country’s possible paths forward.

 Professor Mehrez’s chapter displays her extensive research and personal investment in the subject. Having grown up in Nabeul, a coastal city in northeastern Tunisia, Mehrez witnessed the Arab Spring firsthand and felt acutely impacted by the fall of Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali’s dictatorship. Living through the country’s subsequent democratization molded her desire to study political science and stayed with her as she travelled from Tunisia to Europe for graduate studies, before eventually coming to the United States.

The focus of her research is Arab public opinion; specifically, she studies how Arab citizens perceive politics and accordingly make decisions at the ballot box and otherwise. Rather than relying solely on established explanations like the secular-Islamist cleavage or clientelist networks, her research explores how underlying values influence electoral choices. This aspect of her research pervades her chapter with the Atlantic Council, particularly as she discusses voter disillusionment with stagnating material outcomes despite the Arab Spring’s multifold political promises.

As part of the Atlantic Council’s annual series on freedom and prosperity, Mehrez’s chapter aligns well with the organization’s mission. Conceived in 1961, the Council seeks to further U.S. engagement with allies and partners to meet global challenges. To this end, its literature often suggests strategies for solving problems within a particular area. Mehrez’s chapter includes several prescriptive elements, including the assertion by Mehrez that “Tunisia needs a social contract where economic opportunities expand alongside political voice, where growth translates to improved living standards for ordinary citizens, not just elites.”

Those interested in reading Professor Mehrez’s article can find it live on the Atlantic Council, or can visit it at this link. Congratulations to Professor Mehrez, and here’s too many more academic successes!