Tunisia and Egypt: Two Tests for Biden and Democracy

“The Biden administration has not yet decided whether to call Saied’s power grab a coup.”

During his first six months in office, President Joe Biden has repeatedly described promoting democracy as a priority of his foreign policy. His Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, released in March, states “democracy holds the key to freedom, prosperity, peace, and dignity,” and it uses the word “democracy” or “democratic” 47 times in 24 pages. In June, while visiting European allies in the run-up to a summit with Vladimir Putin, President Biden said free countries were “in a contest—not with China per se, but a contest with autocrats, autocratic governments around the world—as to whether or not democracies can compete with them in the rapidly changing 21st century.” Two North African countries now test how committed the United States’ 46th president truly is to this goal.

Tunisia and Egypt, the first two countries to oust their dictators in the Arab Spring of 2011, have followed very different political trajectories over the last decade. American policy toward each can play a significant role in determining how long democracy can survive in Arab countries. While the decision to continue promoting responsive public institutions, free and fair elections, and other key features of democratic states is one for Tunisians and Egyptians to make—and it is not easy for any population to make under difficult circumstances—American actions can make it easier for democracy to win out.

It is fair to ask why Americans should care about democracy in countries thousands of miles away, especially in a region that for many evokes images of “endless wars.” At a time when there are many economic and social priorities to attend to at home—many of which President Biden is also seeking to address— it makes sense to question any significant focus on other countries’ internal affairs. Furthermore, with President Biden and most Americans seeking to wind down their country’s decades-long military involvement in the Middle East and Central Asia, it is natural that this region is one that Americans are keen to shift attention away from.