
Tunisian parliamentarians, senior U.S. officials, diplomats, Middle East experts, media representatives, and a wide array of friends of Tunisia gathered on February 25th, 2014, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC to celebrate the country's historic constitution and to honor and recognize the efforts and leadership of Mr. Rached Ghannouchi, leading Islamic scholar and President of the Nahdha Party in Tunisia. The banquet, hosted by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) and the National Council on U.S.-Arab relations, commemorated the adoption on January 26, 2014 of one of the Arab world's most progressive constitutions, with unprecedented guarantees of freedom of religion and women's rights. Over 150 guests attended the event (who's who in Washington DC). Among the main speakers at the Banquet Dinner to welcome and honor Mr. Rached Ghannouchi to Washington DC were Gerald Feierstein, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, John Esposito, University Professor at Georgetown University, Bill Lawrence, President of American Tunisian Association, John Duke Anthony, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy, Lorne Craner, President of the International Republican Institute, and William Taylor, V.P. at the US Institute of Peace.

"giddy. . . . You could see it in the [NCA], you could see it in the streets. They could tell I was a foreigner, and a waiter came up to me and said, 'Do you know what we did?!?' They were extremely proud."
With the uncertainty in Libya, the coup in Egypt, and strife in Syria, Tunisia stands as the Arab country where Islam and democracy are being shown to be compatible and where the people are beginning to see that democracy can improve their lives." Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), added:
The Tunisian experience and the Tunisian model . . . has proven to the whole world that democracy is a dream that can be achieved in the Arab world and the Muslim world, despite the significant problems in the Arab spring countries over the last few months. The Tunisian experience has proven to those doubting the intentions of Islamists that Islam and Democracy are compatible, and that
We expect from all friends around the world to come to Tunisia to help this model because it is in the interest of all mankind, in the East and the West, that democracy will prevail all over the world. We live in a small village and you cannot in the West enjoy the fruits of democracy and let other people in the fire of dictatorship. So investing in democracy is more beneficial than investing in dictatorships.
He called the new constitution "a marriage between Islam and democracy, between Islam and human rights, and between Islam and universal values."
Ghannouchi reinforced the same theme, stating that:
On the security front, the guest of honor warned of Salafist "extremism" that was trying to "use chaos to abort the revolution," but also warned that security forces, used by the Ben Ali regime to abuse the population, had not fully transitioned into their new role. He remarked to Barbara Slavin, who covered the event for Al Monitor, "It takes a long time to re-educate police to render them working for the national interest, not the security of the rulers."
Economics, however, as noted by current President Marzouki and Prime Minister Jomaa, remains the most daunting challenge for Tunisia. While growth has recovered from negative 2% following the revolution to a positive growth of 3% in 2012 and 2013, and unemployment has fallen from 19% to 15%-largely through fiscally costly government stimulus-Tunisia's government faces a looming fiscal crisis. Coupled with high rural and youth unemployment, particularly among university graduates, dissatisfied youth that triggered and helped foment the 2011 revolution will be in a position to rebel again. To this end, all of the speakers encouraged Americans to invest in Tunisia's success, which is so vital to global interests. Ghannouchi explained:
The world is a small village. You cannot in the West enjoy democracy and leave other people to the [destabilizing] fires of dictatorship. All of mankind [has to work together to] to liberate our world from dictators. Investing in democracy is more beneficial than investing in dictatorship.
William Lawrence, President of the American Tunisian Association and visiting professor at George Washington University, added that despite all of the accolades bestowed on Rached Ghannouchi by the international community, they seemed to have had little impact on his positions and passion for democracy for over three decades of activism, imprisonment, and exile. For those that know him, said Lawrence:
The first thing that stands out is his humility. . . . As everyone thanks him for his role in the Tunisian democratic transition, he is the first one to point out the important role that all of the others played, both from Tunisian civil society and from across the political spectrum.
On his longstanding commitment to democratic principles, Lawrence continued:
At the U.S. Institute for Peace, and again at this commemorative event, Ghannouchi acknowledged the many obstacles that Tunisia has to face, observing, "One flower does not make a spring." Commenting on that metaphor, Lawrence concurred, "I think that is a very profound observation, that we are only at the beginning of a transition. Tunisians have only begun to accomplish everything that Tunisians can accomplish, and Tunisia has only embarked down the road of what Tunisia can become." Barbara Slavin noted in Al Monitor, "When compared to the violence in Egypt and especially in Syria, Tunisia does seem like a flower in the desert."
But Ghannouchi, resolutely optimistic about the ultimate success of the Arab spring, concluded, "It is in the interest of all mankind, in the east and the west, that democracy prevails in Tunisia and all the world."