one can look back and peace calmly of peaceful democratic transitions. in a conversation with the country s head of government, i asked him to explain the country s success. he pointed to three things. first he said tunisia has existed as a political entity for 3,000 years from the times of ancient carthage. it does not have the sectarian and tribal differences. third he explained that on the first post-independence leader tunisia built strong political and administrative institutions. in addition to all these structural advantages it s benefits from wide leadership. the old order, the elites were still very powerful so the
country s success. he pointed to three things. first he said tunisia has existed as a political entity for 3,000 years from the times of ancient carthage. second, he noted that tunisia is almost entirely sunni. it does not have the sectarian and tribal differences like eye iraq and libya. third he explained that on the first post-independence leader tunisia built strong political and administrative institutions. but in addition to all these structural and historical advantag advantages, tunisia has benefited from wide leadership. the old order, the elites were still very powerful so the country wouldn t be run by excluding them. he noted that you cannot go for total victory. in mature democracies, perhaps