REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: The 14th Tunis Exchange (Online), May 27-June 19

The 14th Tunis Exchange will be held virtually this year in association with Georgetown University’s Democracy and Governance Program over eight Thursdays and Saturdays, May 27-June 19. During the 25+ hours of sessions, participants from around the world will have the opportunity to meet, listen and engage leading social, political, religious and economic leaders from across the spectrum in Tunisia.

Request a registration link: info@globalpoliticalexchange.org

Registration Deadline I: April 30, 2021

View all of our programs: www.globalpoliticalexchange.org

Program Specifics
The eight days of Tunis Exchange sessions (May 27, May 29, June 3, June 5, June 10, June 12, June 17 and June 19) will be conducted via Zoom starting at 2pm Tunis Time/9am EST every Thursday and Saturday and will conclude at approximately 5pm/12pm each day. In order to promote small group dynamics and engagement with our speakers, the number of participants will be capped at 30. Sessions themselves will usually be conducted on an individual rather than a panel basis and will generally allow ample opportunity for question time (simultaneous translation into English will be provided when necessary). All sessions will also be held under the Chatham House rule, although we customarily work with our speakers to approve any quotes/references that participants may need for their own work.

Costs
$350 — Undergraduate and graduate students, unaffiliated researchers and freelance journalists;
$500 — Affiliated researchers, academics, journalists, NGO and UN staff;
$750 — Private enterprise or government staff.

Applying For A Scholarship
All funding for the Exchange comes from only two sources: The participants themselves who pay the participation fee or scholarship recipients who benefit from individual, charitable contributions designed specifically to broaden the social, political and geographic diversity of each Exchange table. As such, there is no government, commercial or non-profit support, an aspect that we believe provides a relatively neutral platform for dialogue and understanding.

The Foundation for Global Political Exchange currently has two Scholarships (covering the participation fee) available in each of two categories: A) The Tunisian/Tunisian Origin Researcher Scholarship for Tunisian researchers who additionally demonstrate a lack of institutional or self-funding ability; B) The Global Exchange Researcher Scholarship available for researchers who will deepen the social, political and geographic diversity of the Exchange and who can document a lack of institutional or self-funding ability. For any questions related to scholarships, email info@globalpoliticalexchange.org.

Session Topics
Invited speakers will address several specific areas, including but not limited to:

– The history and internal transformations of Ennahda, including organizational and ideological evolution since the revolution;

– The post-revolutionary evolution of the UGTT, Tunisia’s powerful labor union, and its role in politics (including implications of its role as primary mediator in the National Dialogue of late 2013);

– The composition, platforms of, and alliances between major parties;

– The state of the Tunisian economy, including regional inequalities, budget transparency and decentralization, etc.;- Security sector reform and the response to terrorism;

– Institutional and legislative reform needs following the passage of Tunisia’s constitution, focusing particularly on reform of the Ministry of Interior (security sector) and Ministry of Justice (judicial sector), Tunisia’s two most problematic ministries;

– Human rights in the new Tunisia (addressing issues such as freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, status of women, use of torture and the terrorism debate);

– Salafism, its composition (political, quietist, jihadi) in Tunisia and its relationship to and implications for party politics, stability, and governance moving forward;

– Taking stock of what Tunisia has done regarding transitional justice, what steps are planned to realize the recently passed transitional justice law, and what more needs to be done;

– The role of the media and civil society organizations;

– Youth politics and activism within and outside formal party structure;

– The scope and underlying causes of recent protest movements.

Previous Agenda
Accepted participants in the upcoming Tunis Exchange will receive the full Agenda of confirmed speakers one month prior to the opening, as well as readings pertinent to the sessions. The completed Agenda of the last Tunis Exchange (June 2019) was as follows:

Sunday June 9
6:00pm — Introductions, House Rules & Safety Briefing: The Exchange

7:00pm — Opening Discussion

8:00pm — Ouiem Chettaoui, Security Sector Specialist

Monday June 10

8:30am — Monica Marks, NYU Abu Dhabi

10:30am — Amine Thabet, Mehdi Foudhaili & Hervé de Baillen, Democracy Reporting International

12:00pm — LUNCH

1:00pm — Zied Ladhari, Minister of Development, Investment & International Cooperation, An-Nahdha Party

3:30pm — Yassine Brahim, Afek Tounes Party Leader & MP

5:00pm — Radwan Masmoudi, President of The Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy

6:00pm — Emmanuel Geny, Democracy International

7:30pm — Achraf Aouadi, President of I-WATCH Tunsia & Mohammad Dhia Hammami, Wesleyan University

Tuesday June 11

10:00am — GROUP DISCUSSION

11:00am — Salwa Gantri, Country Director International Center for Transitional Justice

12:30pm — LUNCH

1:30pm — Tarek Kahlaoui, Former Director of the Tunisian Institute of Strategic Studies, Assistant Professor MSB

3:00pm — Selim Kharrat, President of Al-Bawsala

5:00pm — European University of Tunis, Discussion With International Relations Department

Wednesday June 12

9:30am — Stefan Buchmayer, Country Director of The Democratic Control of Armed Forces

10:45am — International Republican Institute Senior Advisor Djordje Todorovic, Resident Program Officer Elizabeth O’Bagy & Jihen Jouini

12:00pm — LUNCH

1:00pm — Nabil Karoui, Karoui & Karoui World

2:30pm — Moncef Marzouki, Former President of Tunisia, Al-Irada Party Leader

4:00pm — Fadhel Ben Omrane, Nidaa Tounes MP

5:00pm — Ahlem Belhaj, UGTT & Femme Democrat Leader

6:00pm — Khawla Ben Aicha, Machroua Tounes MP

Thursday June 13

9:00am — Amine Ghali, President of Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center

10:30am — Nicolas Kaczorowski, Country Director of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems

12:00pm — LUNCH

1:00pm — Mohamed Ali Azaiez, An-Nahdha

2:00pm — Rached Ghannouchi, President of An-Nahdha

5:00pm — Mohamed Ayadi, INLUCC Commissioner

7:00pm — Dinner

8:00pm — Drive to SFAX

Friday June 14

11:00am — Anouar Jebir, Baladiyya Sfax, Health Commission

11:45am — Ayman Bouhajeb, Machroua Tunis Sfax, & Mohsen Marzouk, Head of Party Machroua Tounes

1:00pm — LUNCH

3:30pm — Baddredine Abdelkefi, MP An-Nahdha

5:00pm — Drive to GABES

9:00pm — Dinner with Rim Thabti, Activist & Blogger

Saturday June 15

9:30am — Mohamed Ali Chouiab, Activist

11:00am — Mouhamed Hayder, Cultural Association of Gabes

12:30pm — LUNCH

2:30pm — Ismail Hafsi, Environmentalist & Activist

3:30pm — Yessine Ben Salem, Nahdha Regional Secretary General Gabes

4:30pm — Khayreddine Debaya, Environmentalist & Activist

5:30pm — Drive back to TUNIS

Sunday June 16

11:00am — Ouided Bouchamoui, Nobel Prize Winner, The Quartet & Former President of UTICA

12:00pm — Group Discussion

1:00pm — Tunis Airport & End Program

To request a registration link or to ask a question, please email us at: info@globalpoliticalexchange.org
To view all of our programs, visit:
www.globalpoliticalexchange.org
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